2023 ALA Conference Alumni Reception – June 24th!
- April 11th, 2023
- in SLIS News
If you are attending the ALA conference in June or will be in the area, please join us at the SLIS alumni reception, June 24 from 7-9 pm at Labriola Chicago.
If you are attending the ALA conference in June or will be in the area, please join us at the SLIS alumni reception, June 24 from 7-9 pm at Labriola Chicago.
We are pleased to welcome Grace Lin to SLIS on April 19th where she will be co-presenting with Book Artist Na Zhou on the art of illustration at 11 am in the Yellowhammer Room of Gorgas Library. The event is free and open to all students.
Grace will also be presenting a family event at the Tuscaloosa Public Library on the evening of April 19th at 6 pm. The first 100 children will receive a free copy of Grace’s new book Once Upon A Book. The event is free and open to the public.
Both events are sponsored by the School of Library and Information Studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences.
Congratulations to SLIS students and faculty that presented today at the 14th Annual Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium (DDVS) on Diversity. From panels to research poster presentations, SLIS was well represented by our MLIS students, faculty – including Dr. Bharat Mehra and Dr. Miriam Sweeney, and information science-focused doctoral students. More information about the presentations is available here. Thank you to the symposium planning committee for your hard work SLIS representatives on the committee included Dr. Miriam Sweeney as symposium co-chair and MLIS student AL Cassada as the symposium graduate assistant.
Pictured are SLIS-affiliated students with their research posters.
CC&IS is hosting its 14th annual Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium, which will take place on Wednesday March 1st. The conference is FREE and will be taking place in a hybrid format to encourage broad participation.
The theme this year is Under Observation: The Conditions of “Being Seen”.
We are particularly excited to welcome our keynote speaker, Dr. Melissa Villa-Nicholas from the University of Rhode Island:
Keynote: Data Borders: How Silicon Valley is Building an Industry to “Know” Immigrants
Abstract: This lecture investigates the emerging state of borderland technology that brings all people into an intimate place of surveillance where data resides and defines inclusion and exclusion to citizenship. Detailing the new trend of biologically mapping undocumented people through biotechnologies, Villa-Nicholas shows how Latinx immigrants are the focus and driving force for surveillance and technology design by Silicon Valley’s emerging industry within defense technology manufacturing. A murky network is revealed that gathers data on marginalized communities for purposes of exploitation and control that implicates law enforcement, border patrol, and ICE, but that also pulls in public workers and the public, often without their knowledge or consent. Enriched by interviews of Latinx immigrants living in the borderlands on their daily use of technology, and their caution around surveillance, this work argues that to move beyond a heavily surveilled state that dehumanizes both immigrants and citizens, we must understand how the data is being collected, aggregated, and correlated with artificial intelligence, and push for immigrant and citizen privacy information rights along the border and throughout the United States.
Check out the full program here and visit the conference website here for more information! Register today and join us on March 1st (either in person on online) in support of the excellent research and creative outputs from our C&IS community! We hope to see you there!
In March 2023, the School of Library and Information Studies @ The University of Alabama will award brand new children’s and teen books to at least four public school libraries in the Black Belt region of the state and two school libraries in an economically deprived area of Alabama outside of the Black Belt Region via the SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt (and Beyond) program.
School Librarians in the Black Belt counties of Alabama and other economically disadvantaged areas of the state are encouraged to apply for free books that will be awarded by Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo, Professor and Interim Director at The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies.
Interested school librarians can download and complete the application sheet and email it to SLIS children’s literacy graduate assistant Kim Rogers at childliteracyga@gmail.com with “Book Bonanza” in the subject line or fax it to (205) 348-3746. Applications should be received no later than midnight on February 28, 2023. Applications are available on the program website: http://blackbeltbookbonanza.weebly.com/ . Note there is a separate application for public schools in the Black Belt Region of the state and another application for low-income schools outside the Black Belt region of the state (as well as private schools in the Black Belt region).
On March 21st, a total of 6 winning school libraries will be selected. Each winning school library will receive over $3000 worth of free NEW children’s and/or young adult books. Once notified, school librarians will coordinate with representatives from the School of Library and Information Studies at The University of Alabama to acquire their books.
Launched in 2009 by Dr. Jamie Naidoo, the SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt is an annual program that provides free books to school libraries in the Black Belt region each academic year. In March 2022, the program donated over $38,300 in new books to elementary, middle, and high school libraries in Alabama. If you need additional information about the program, please visit the program website http://blackbeltbookbonanza.weebly.com/