Spring 2021 Recap

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Alas, the spring term has ended! It was a busy semester full of wonderful events that were put together with the support of our community. We’re proud of and thankful for the alumni, faculty, and other community members who have shared their time, experiences, and wisdom for these events. Check out the highlights of this semester’s activities below.

Career Q&A Series

We held two panels as part of the Career Q&A series. They were a hit! All panelists were Simmons alumni who shared their experiences and advice for getting into and growing in the LIS field. The panelists in Part 1 of the series included alumni Anne Pepitone, Dan Zavala, Emily Donohue, and Cynthia Cheng Correia. Part 2 featured alumni Lucy Taylor, Derek Murphy, Elizabeth Quigley, and Julie Goldman.

NEASIS&T Conference Panel

Our very own co-chairs Jennifer Sunoo and Andrew Schofield hosted a panel during the NEASIS&T 2021 Annual Conference. The panel, titled “It Took a Pandemic: Reinventing Libraries in an Era of Change,” featured Simmons students Deeth Ellis, Kevin Kidd, David Leonard, Kate Nyhan, and Jae Jennifer Rossman. The panelists discussed the ways their libraries have addressed challenges caused by COVID-19.

For more details on the panel session, check out our full recap of Simmons’ activity during the 2021 NEASIS&T conference.

Remote Usability Testing Workshop

In collaboration with UXPA, we hosted a Remote Usability Testing Workshop. After introducing usability testing, attendees had a chance to experience a mock usability testing session, using a COVID-19 vaccine information site as an example.

IS&T Lab Launch

The Information Science and Technology faculty launched the IS&T Lab website. The faculty shared their goals and visions for the lab, and student Sarah Minnear shared progress on the website. Lots of helpful feedback and ideas were shared in conversation and through an interactive Jamboard session. We can’t wait to see how the virtual lab grows in the coming months!

Screenshot of zoom meeting, with the IS7T website's News and Events page on the left and Sarah Minnear on the right. Text on webpage reads: Allen Smith Symposium, Simmons University School of Library and Information Science.

Student IS&T lab assistant Sarah Minnear presented the new IS&T lab website and plans for future development.

Screenshot of page 1 of Jamboard. The space is divided into four squares: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Each square has sticky notes with ideas that fit the topic of each square.

We had lots of fun using Google Jamboard to brainstorm ideas and visions for the IS&T Lab.

New Media Art and IS&T: A Talk with Artist Yeseul Song

For our final event, Yeseul Song, Simmons alumna and artist, discussed how she merges information science with new media art to create interactive exhibits that challenge our understanding of how people use their senses and perceive their surroundings. Song shared thought-provoking examples from her recent work. What a great way to end the semester!

A woman with headphones is sticking her sand into one of Song's invisible sound sculptures.

Yeseul Song discussed her Invisible Sculptures pieces, which are designed for people to interact with a sculpture using senses other than sight. One of these sculptures is a sound sculpture, pictured above.

A compilation of four images of people from the public engaging with Song's Sculptures on Wheels.

Song took some of her Invisible Sculptures out of the museum and into the public using a mobile cart to bring her works to different communities.

That’s a wrap for our spring semester! Our board truly enjoyed putting these events together. Stay tuned for more events to come in future semesters.

Screenshot of board members who attended the final ASIS&T Simmons board meeting

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