Blogs

Data Skills Training for Zimbabwean Academic Librarians

By Phillip Ndhlovu

September 20, 2023

Data Skills Training Workshop for Zimbabwean Academic Librarians was held at Gwanda State University (GSU), Epoch Mine Campus, Filabusi, Zimbabwe from the 19th to the 20th of July 2023, with support from an IASSIST Program Sponsorship award. The event was hosted by the GSU Library. The training workshop targeted academic librarians in Zimbabwe with the main objective of increasing 1) their knowledge of research data management and 2) their capacity to assist researchers in this area.

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IASSIST Research Data Management Workshop at MUST

By Winny Nekesa Akullo and Dr. Robert Buwule

September 14, 2023

The International Association of Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) sponsored a one-day Research Data Management workshop at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). The theme of the workshop was “Research Data Management for promotion of scholarship among academic staff”. A group photo with some of the participants at the workshop. The workshop took place on 17th August 2023, at the Pharmbiotrack Board room, Faculty of Applied Science and Technology building.

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IASSIST Fellows 2023: Bridging Perspectives, Building Connections

By Sarah Young

September 11, 2023

IASSIST Fellows 2023 In June, we were excited to welcome four Fellows to Philadelphia from around the globe. They brought with them a diverse array of experiences, expertise and perspectives and an enthusiasm for learning more about the organization and making connections with other IASSIST members. We asked them about their IASSIST experience and here’s what they had to say! IASSIST 2023 Fellows and Members of the IASSIST Leadership pictured at the opening reception in Philadelphia.

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IASSIST Program Sponsorship: International Symposium on Open Science in Malaysia

By Dr. Wahidah Mohd Zain

August 14, 2023

Greetings IASSISTers! For most North American Universities and Colleges, we are in end-of-academic-year-phase - which finds us gearing up for the rush of summer conferences and workshops; it’s time to retool and/or share our expertise with the world! In Malaysia, March is one of 2 annual mid-semester breaks in which academic staff must attend to their non-teaching responsibilities – so this is when I spent a couple of weeks touring Malaysian Universities and giving general talks on Open Science to students, librarians, lecturers and researchers, and to some administrators as well.

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IASSIST American Library Association Spectrum Scholar

By Zhaneille Green and Bobray Bordelon

August 8, 2023

Bobray Bordelon (left) and Zhaneille Green IASSIST supported the American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholarship program in 2022-2023 as part of its commitment to attracting and retaining diverse candidates to the profession. “The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA.

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The Existential... Beyond the Data

By Noé Nessel

July 10, 2023

First of all, I must clarify that I am not ChatGPT. I am not a bot! This blog was written by a sentient human being who participated in the IASSIST 2023 Conference. IASSIST Fellows 2023 with IASSIST officials. Often, professionals from the Southern Hemisphere travel to the US to enjoy a greater sense of autonomy and an international experience. For me, attending IASSIST was a brief but important professional opportunity. I’d like to acknowledge the support of Kevin Manuel (Canada) and the rest of the conference program committee, who provided me an opportunity to present my work to this international audience.

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Editor's Notes: Yes, we are international

By IQ Editor

June 30, 2023

Welcome to the second issue of IASSIST Quarterly for the year 2023 - (IQ vol. 47(2) 2023) . I am very happy with the ‘International’ in IASSIST. It is important to learn from outside your own center. In this issue we have a focus on the United States and some African countries with a special focus on South Africa. The first article investigates LibGuides across the many states of the United States.

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Promoting IASSIST at the -34 parallel

By Noé Nessel

April 12, 2023

IASSIST program sponsorship was given to the program Big Data: Cities of the Future (Workshop) held on April 4, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina hosted by the “Martín Del Barco Centenera” Library. The website for the now completed event is available. The IASSIST liaison to the event Noé Nessel offers this reflection. Noé Nessel If you are reading these lines, I’m sure we’ll meet physically at an International Congress at some point.

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Editor's Notes: FAIR BOT. As metadata is data is metadata is data

By IQ Editor

March 31, 2023

Welcome to the first issue of IASSIST Quarterly for the year 2023 - (IQ vol. 47(1) 2023) . The last article in this issue has in the title the FAIR acronym that stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These are the concepts most often focused on by our articles in the IQ and FAIR has an extra emphasis in this issue. The first article introduces and demonstrates a shared vocabulary for data points where the need arose after confusions about data and metadata.

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How Different Countries View Race

By Anti-Racism Resources Interest Group

March 11, 2023

The Black Lives Matter and indigenous rights movements, as well as international migration in recent years, have caused many organisations, including IASSIST, to re-examine their own understanding and knowledge, processes and practices. It also made IASSIST members feel compelled to collect materials that can help everyone recognise, acknowledge, and combat implicit racial bias. The goals of the Anti-Racism Resources Interest Group are to gather these resources and together with IASSIST’s Professional Development Committee organise webinars on related topics.

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