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Spring 2023 Newsletter

July 13th, 2023

Queens College City University of New York

Graduate School of Library and Information Studies

GSLIS RECEIVES RE-ACCREDITATION FROM THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

The Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies has been re-accredited by the American Library Association as of June 2023. This is an important achievement, as it demonstrates that our degrees meet national standards and that our graduates are qualified for professional posts across the United States and Canada.

Thank you to the faculty, staff and students who helped in the compilation of the program presentation, to all faculty, staff, students (especially the student chapter leaders), and alumni who showed up for us during the site visit in Spring, and to the college for supporting our presentation to the Committee on Accreditation in Chicago.

Our next accreditation will take place in seven years, and we look forward to continuing to build our programs with the GSLIS community in that time.

NEW FACULTY

Core Faculty

Dr. S.E. “Shack” Hackney

S.E. “Shack” Hackney (they/them/theirs) accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at GSLIS starting Fall 2022. They received their MSLIS from Pratt Institute, and their PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Their research spans such topics as the history of 20th century librarianship, digital and open pedagogy, critical information infrastructure, and, of course, emojis. They are a 2022-23 NYPL Diamonstein Spielvogel Fellowship recipient, researching the extensive writing and travels of Indian classification theorist S.R. Ranganathan. They teach courses on such topics as print culture, digital humanities, research methods, and community engagement, among others. They live in Brooklyn with their two cats and many plants.

Core Faculty

Dr. Nafiz Zaman Shuva

Dr. Nafiz Zaman Shuva (he/him) accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at GSLIS starting Fall 2022. He holds an MA in Information Science and Library Management from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh; an international master’s degree in Digital Library Learning from three European institutions in Norway, Estonia, and Italy; and a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. His current research centers on areas of the information behavior of marginalized populations (such as migrants), public libraries, social media, scholarly communication, and EDI in Library and Information Science. He is the co-chair of the ALA IRRT Membership Committee, an elected member of the IFLA North American Regional Division, and a member of the ASIS&T DEIA Task Force.

Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Cynthia Tobar

Dr. Cynthia Tobar (she/her) will begin teaching Oral History: Theory, Methods, and Practice as an Adjunct Instructor in Fall 2023. She is an artist, activist-scholar, filmmaker and oral historian who is passionate about creating interactive, participatory stories documenting social change. A first-generation Ecuadorian American born and raised in NYC, Cynthia has exhibited and published on several community-based oral history projects that have focused on social justice, student activism, and socially engaged art practices. Currently, she is an Associate Professor and Head of Archives at Bronx Community College, where she creates socially-engaged art programming, community-based archiving and storytelling projects that incubate spaces of culturally responsive memory-building to further advance community engagement with the Archives. She is the founder of Cities for People, Not for Profit, a storytelling project documenting gentrification and displacement in Bushwick.

American Sign Language for Librarians

This introduction to American Sign Language and Deaf culture will bring you a new perspective to both Deaf and hearing worlds. You will learn that American Sign Language (ASL) is its own language with distinct grammar structures, syntax, and mouth morphemes, far different from English language. You will learn that Deaf culture in America has fought to be recognized as a group of linguistic minorities, rather than a group of disability. From the course readings, you will learn the history of ASL and Deaf culture; the obstacles and challenges that many Deaf people have faced and overcome, and still struggle in contemporary society. The goal is for you to walk away from this course with basic knowledge in conversational ASL signs and American Deaf culture.

Oral History: Theory, Methods, Practice

In this hands-on class, students will engage with the theory and practice of oral history as a transdisciplinary field in the social sciences and humanities, specifically the fields of memory studies, history, sociology, anthropology, psychology and the arts. The main objectives of the course are to learn and practice the skills required to conceptualize, conduct, analyze and disseminate oral history interviews. Students will learn project design, interviewing, audio recording, transcribing, indexing, and digital archiving. The goal will be to critically engage in interdisciplinary conversation as students become proficient in underlying principles and practices necessary for conducting and designing oral history projects.

Data Ethics

This course will introduce students to the foundations of ethics – the moral principles that govern behavior – and ethical approaches to information problems. Shaped by the current and emerging big data environment, this class considers problems in data ethics related to identity and intent, visibility and control, responsibility, and truth and trust, as well as special topics in data ethics. The course covers algorithmic accountability, ethics in machine learning and other types of artificial intelligence, the ethics of computational approaches to information work, and the contributions of LIS to ethical data futures.

GSLIS LAUNCHES RESEARCH IN PRAXIS DISCUSSION SERIES

This new series is brought to you by the GSLIS Research and Pedagogy Committee. Speakers for the 2022-2023 academic year included:

Sepideh Mckensy, Senior Services Specialist with Library Impact Ontario and the Toronto Public Library, and Joseph Lalonde, Toronto Public Library, “Technology Measurement to Demonstrate Impact: A Practical Use Case of a Data Solution in the Public Library Sector for Collective Advocacy, Digital Inclusion Advancement and Strategic Success.”
Emily Drabinski, President of the American Library Association and Critical Pedagogy Librarian at the CUNY Graduate Center, “Essential to the Public: Libraries at the End of the World.”
Elya Assayag, Columbia University PhD candidate and New York Public Library Diamondstein-Spielvogel Research Fellow, “Embroidering Histories.”
Johnathan Thayer, Assistant Professor, GSLIS, CUNY, “Making the Public History Classroom Public.”

FACULTY RESEARCH & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Prof. Jennifer Brown (she/her) won the feature article award for the article she co-authored with Nora Mulligan titled "When First Amendment Auditors Visit" for Public Libraries Magazine, was elected Councilor-at-Large for the American Library Association, and was appointed to the Continuing Education Advisory Group for the Public Library Association.

Dr. S.E. Shack Hackney (they/them/theirs) was named a Diamondstien-Spielvogel Research Fellow at the Center for Research in the Humanities, New York Public Library. Dr. Hackney was also named a Queens College Open Educational Resources Fellow with the Queens College Library for Spring 2023.

Prof. Jess deCourcy Hinds (she/her) received full funding to pursue a PhD in English at St. John's University in Queens with an emphasis on children's and YA writing and digital humanities, and published the article “Neurodiverse Navigation and Disability Equity in a DoE Early College Library” in Urban Library Journal.

Dr. James Lowry (he/him) received the 2023 Waldo Leland Gifford Award from the Society of American Archivists for his book Disputed Archival Heritage (Routledge, 2022), and was awarded with his co-author, Dr. Riley Linebaugh, the Archival History Prize for the article “The Archival Colour Line: Race, Records and Post-Colonial Custody” published in Archives and Records in 2021.

Prof. Arlene Laverde (she/her/hers) was elected as President of the New York Library Association (NYLA), appeared on Capital Pressroom to discuss “Materials In School Libraries are Targeted in the Culture War,” and was co-chair of programming for the 2023 American Association for School Libraries (AASL) national conference.

Dr. Joe Sánchez (he/him) delivered a presentation titled "Journeying through Uncertain Times: Using Computational Thinking and Storytelling to Connect and Engage Library Users" at The World Library and Information Congress international conference held in Dublin, launched with the American Library Association the newest round of Spectrum Doctoral Fellowships - Catalysts for Change, and participated in the panel “Defending Manga” at New York Comic Con with GSLIS 2010 alumnus and school librarian Jillian Rudes.

Dr. Nafiz Shuva (he/him) was awarded a PSC-CUNY Research Award to explore public library usage among Bangladeshi immigrants in Queens, New York, and their reading habits. Dr. Shuva also received the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Faculty Fellowship 2022-2023.

Dr. Johnathan Thayer (he/him) published the co-edited volume Negotiating Masculinities and Modernity in the Maritime World, 1815-1940 (Palgrave, 2022) in addition to book chapters in Ethnic Studies in Academic and Research Libraries and Curating Access: Disability Art Activism and Creative Accommodation, and an article in the Journal of Medical Librarians Association.

Prof. Lori Wallach (she/her) presented at the Lewis Latimer House Museum’s “Black Historic Sites in Conversation: The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground” with Dr. Johnathan Thayer (GSLIS) and the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy’s Robbie Garrison and Sally Mehreteab.

STUDENT AND ALUMNI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

GSLIS alumnus Regina Carra published an article, “DJK: (Re)Inventing Eastern Europe in the Library of Congress Classification in Slavic & Eastern European Information Resources.

GSLIS alumnus María Fernanda Pardo was appointed to the New York State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries.

GSLIS student Meral Hersh has been named a 2022-2024 HASTAC Scholar.

GSLIS alumnus Cristina Fontánez Rodríguez and Pedro Juan Hernández from the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños (CENTRO) have published a co-authored chapter with Dr. Johnathan Thayer in Ethnic Studies in Academic and Research Libraries (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2021).

GSLIS alumnus Erik Pagan and Dr. Johnathan Thayer published a co-authored chapter, "Accommodating and Enabling Anxiety Disorders and Agoraphobia in Digital Access Systems for Cultural Heritage," in the book Curating Access: Disability Art Activism and Creative Accommodation (Routledge, 2022).

GSLIS alumnus Kyra Wolfe has been named the New York City School Librarians’ Association (NYCSLA) School Librarian of the year.

STUDENT GROUP CHAPTERS

Queens College Library and Information Studies Association (QCLISSA)

For the 2022-2023 academic year, QCLISSA has been approaching our mission from several angles. On a daily basis, GSLIS students and alumni have access to our Discord server, a platform that offers users a space to chat remotely and in real time. The QCLISSA Discord server is divided into multiple channels, based on specific class, academic concentration, or various social or academic topics, an online writing center, career and job advice, and information about available resources. In addition, our plans for this period have included both remote and virtual events, partnerships with the Queens College Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists (QCSAA), lectures and discussions featuring professionals both in and relevant to the library world, and instructional events that provide socializing and skill building for our members. QCLISSA also participates in faculty meetings, communicating with students and advocating on their behalf. As a club chartered by the Queens College office of clubs and organizations, QCLISSA has access to Queens College funds and event spaces.

Connect with QCLISSA here.

Queens College Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists (QCSAA)

The Queens College Student Chapter of Society of American Archivists was first active in 2010. In 2021-2022, the club re-chartered with Queens College to secure access to funding and space. The board co-wrote an article for Archival Outlook on the successes of building virtual community during COVID (“Building Community Virtually in an SAA Student Chapter,” Archival Outlook, 14 and 21, November/December, 2021). They also hosted several in-person meet ups at museums and historical sites. In the Spring 2022 semester, the chapter held Ask An Archivist events with Zakiya Collier and Isaac Fellman (who spoke about his book Dead Collections), as well as a popular job application panel co-organized with Metropolitan NYC Archivists Roundtable. Meet ups and socials continued into the fall, when we began to have more in-person gatherings. Events and programming have continued into Spring 2023 and beyond.

Connect with QCSAA here.