The School of Library and Information Studies is always proud to showcase the achievements of its students, and 2014 was an exceptional year. Students from the school's advanced research course held a session titled "Next Generation Innovation" at the Alberta Library Conference. This year's theme was "Be the Change," and the students presented a variety of unique projects. Rather than have students take turns giving short presentations about their research, Professor Tami Oliphant organized a poster session. Those who attended the session were able to examine each project at their own pace and ask students questions about their research. The conference room saw a considerable amount of traffic, and the session was very well received by attendees and conference organizers. Conversations between the students and viewers could be heard down the hall of the Jasper Park Lodge's basement - a testament to the enthusiasm displayed by the SLIS presenters.
In addition to the poster session, students attended other talks hosted by LIS professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, spoke and met individuals from the vendor community, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and wildlife of Jasper.
This is the first time SLIS has organized a library conference session at ALC for a group of its students. In many ways, this year's presentations exemplify the progressive attitude SLIS promotes, by providing students with research experience as well as professional networking opportunities. In the future, SLIS would like to continue to promote student research at events like ALC to exhibit the outstanding work our students produce to the broader library community.
List of Student Presentations:
Maureen Babb - A Survey Exploring the Perceptions of Academic Librarians as Researchers
Kymberly Sobchyshyn - Affluence and Perceptions of the Public Library: A Pilot Study
Meghan O'Leary - Current Trends in the Ethical Values of LIS Professionals
Elizabeth Kreiter - Stories from the score collection: Assessing the research needs of music students
Sarah Vela - Information Quality and the Need for Standards in Museum Records
Robyn Stobbs - Fiction & Information: Not Opposites, But Parts of the Reading Experience
Morgan Hordal - Exploring the experiences of older adults with their e-book readers
Erik Christiansen - Don't Make me Type: Students' Perceptions of Library Catalogues on Tablet Computers
Cari Postnikoff - How an International Trade Deal Could Change Everything: Canadian Copyright and the Trans Pacific Partnership
