November 18, 2009
SI-ASB 2010 Needs Your Books!
I’m sure that you’ve seen the messages about the call for books for the ASB Book Drive already via email, but if not, here’s one more notice.
The SI-ASB Book Sale is December 2 and 3 this year (in the lobby of WH). Over the past two years, we’ve raised a pretty significant amount of money from these sales because of considerable generosity from the SI community. (Last year was especially robust because the Olson’s donated their entire duplicate library to us before they departed to California.)
However, this year, we’re short on books. We have a fraction of what we’ve had in the past. Although I know that this makes Jim quite happy because of storage reasons, it won’t do much for fundraising for the ASB program.
It would be great if everyone could donate just two or three books – that’s all we’re asking. We’ve got a lot of avid readers and researchers here at SI that have great collections of books; if you can just pull out a couple that you know you probably won’t ever look at again, we would love to have them.
I’ve already started to get some books from the SI community, so if you’ve donated, thank you! (I hope that you plan to restock at the sale in two weeks).
Otherwise, you can drop books off to my office (404C) or in the bins at SIN.
If you have questions, please let me know!
Thank you for your consideration,
Kelly
On behalf of the SI-ASB Fundraising Committee
Posted by kkowatch at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2009
UM School of Information Seeks Hosts for 2010 Alternative Spring Break Program
The University of Michigan School of Information (SI) is again seeking host organizations for its annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program.
As a host organization, you get to submit one or more projects related to the areas that are being studied at the Kelly Kowatch to me by Monday, November 23, 2009 (sooner if possible!)
You will them receive further information for the 2010 timeline and answer any questions that you might have.
For more information about where students have worked and their projects, please visit the SI-ASB website at www.si.umich.edu/pep/asb/.
And, please spread the word! If you know of any non-profit, educational, government, or cultural organizations that would be interested in participating, please pass along this message or send their contact information to kkowatch@umich.edu.
Sincerely,
Kelly A. Kowatch, Assistant Director / ASB Coordinator
University of Michigan School of Information
Career Development Office
734.936.8735
kkowatch@umich.edu
404C West Hall
Posted by kkowatch at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2009
SI-ASB 2010 Updates and Information
The book drive has begun! The SI-ASB Fundraising committee annually hosts a book drive and book sale. The book sale will take place in early December – however, we need your books to make the sale possible! Gather your unread or already-read books and drop them off at my office (404C). While you’re visiting friends or family, gather their “extra” books too! Solicit them from everyone – we need a lot of books to come in over the next six weeks to match what was raised last year! (We’ll take just about anything, but please hold on to your old economics and statistics books!)
Mark Your Calendar: The 2010 SI-ASB Interest Meeting will take place on Thursday, November 12, 2009, from 12:00 – 1:00pm in 311 WH.
RSVP on iTrack (An additional info session will be held in January if you can’t make it to the November one.)
ASB Committee Volunteers, Mark Your Calendar – More Information to Come!
a. The ASB Fundraising Committee’s first meeting will take place on Monday, November 9 at noon to 1pm in 405a
b. The ASB Service Committee’s first meeting will take place on Friday, November 13, 2009 at noon to 1pm in 405a
******************************
The School of Information annually hosts a unique Alternative Spring Break Program where MSI candidates get to experience a week-long professional work experience while providing service to non-profit, governmental, educational, or cultural organization in Washington, D.C.; Chicago, and New York. The 2010 ASB will take place Monday, March 1 through Friday, Mary 5, 2009. Students will depart and return the weekend before and the weekend following.
Check out last year’s organizations, projects, pictures, and comments at http://www.si.umich.edu/pep/asb/
Posted by kkowatch at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)
ASB Interest Listserv and Interest Meeting -- 11.12.09
All SI students who completed the SI-ASB 2010 interest survey have been added to the SI ASB Interest Listserv. (If at any time you would like to be removed from this listserv, you can remove yourself in the UM Online Directory.)
The Fall 2010 Interest meeting will be on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at noon to 1pm in 311 WH. We will be serving cake to celebrate the start of the 2010 ASB program!
**Please register for the Interest Session on iTrack so that we know how much cake to order. **
This information session will provide information on what ASB is, the timeline to expect, what the application is like, etc. Students who participated last year will be there to share about their experiences and answer questions. ASB has proven to be a fun and valuable experience for all students who have participated in the past. Benefits include networking contacts, experience to add to your resume, an urban-cultural experience, new friends, and a deeper insight into your perceived career choice.
If you are unable to make this interest meeting, there will be another held in early January. However, cake will not be served then – just be warned!
Don’t forget to RSVP on iTrack!
Kelly
Kelly A. Kowatch, Assistant Director
University of Michigan School of Information
Career Development Office
734.936.8735
kkowatch@umich.edu
404C West Hall
Posted by kkowatch at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
ASB Service Committee - First Meeting
The 2010 ASB Service Committee will have its first meeting on Friday, November 13, 2009 in 405A at noon to 1pm.
This will be an informal meeting to discuss plans for the coming year. I will provide you with some general background information on the Service Committee and together we can map out our goals for 2009-10.
If you can make it, please let me know!
Kelly
Posted by kkowatch at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
ASB Fundraising Committee - First Meeting
The 2010 ASB Fundraising Committee will have our first meeting on Monday, November 9, 2009 in 405A at noon to 1pm.
The ASB fundraising has a history of being a very active, engaging, and fun group of students! In the past three years, this group has raised an increasing amount of money to support the unique Alternative Spring Break Program at SI.
This will be an informal meeting to discuss plans for the coming year. Our agenda will include the following:
--Writing thank you notes to last year’s individual supporters (bring your favorite pen!)
--Discussing 2009-10 events:
Book Drive/Book Sale
Donor Letter
Penny Wars
SI Revue
Other Ideas?
--Selecting leadership for events
--Selecting times for future meetings
I will also provide you with some general background information on the Fundraising Committee and together we can map out our goals for 2009-10.
If you can make it, please let me know!
Kelly
Posted by kkowatch at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2009
ARChive of Contemporary Music Featured in NY Times
Always good to share good news about our ASB sites!
****************
ARC featured TODAY In the NY Region section of the NY Times, 5/7/09
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/sampling-a-vast-archive-of-musi/#more-30275
David Gonzales, the author, (who is also donating his 400 Flamenco record collection to ARC) said that if it gets e-mailed a lot, or their are a lot of comments, that keeps the story alive, So what are you waiting for?
Thanks
B.
The ARChive of Contemporary Music is a not-for-profit archive, music library and research center located in New York City. The ARChive collects preserves and provides information on the popular music of all cultures throughout the world. Since 1985 our holdings have grown to two million sound recordings, making the ARChive the largest popular music collection in the World.
Members of the Board of Advisors are: David Bowie, Jellybean Benitez,
Jonathan Demme, Ellie Greenwich, Jerry Leiber, Youssou N'Dour,
Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren,
Fred Schneider, Martin Scorsese, Paul Simon,
Mike Stoller and Jerry Wexler
54 White Street
New York City, 10013
tel : 212-226-6967
e : arcmusic@inch.com
http://arcmusic.org
blog: http://arcmusic.wordpress.com
The NYMIA (New York Musicians Index and Archive)
is available for NY based musicians and
music related businesses to join and anyone to search.
We hope it will be useful. Tell your friends.
http://www.nymia.org
Summer RECORD SALE June 13 - 21
Posted by kkowatch at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2009
2009 ASB Website Complete
I just wanted to share with all our readers that the 2009 ASB website is complete. The fabulous ASB Web team -- Katie McCurdy, Li Li, Mike Harmala, Eunice Shin, and Nik Rozaidi Rashid -- devoted a significant amount of time over the last year to get the public site and the application site up and running for 2009. They wrapped up adding the student comments and pictures last week.
You can view the 2009 ASB site at http://asb.si.umich.edu/2009/index.shtml
Pictures can be viewed on the SI ASB Facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7606715638 or the SI ASB Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/siasb_2009/
Photos can always be added, so if you didn't add you pics earlier, please do so now!
Posted by kkowatch at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
National Library of Medicine Post-ASB Posting
It’s been over two months since we hosted two University of Michigan iSchool students, Andy Hickner and Chrysta Meadowbrooke. In that time we’ve really been able to use the work that each of them did during the Alternative Spring Break week.
Andy Hickner conducted an analysis of 403 email inquiries made to the NIHSeniorHealth website during the period August 1, 2008 and February 1, 2009 as well as 341 suggestions for new topics on the site. The goal of the analysis was to provide data that could be used to make improvements in the website. We used Andy’s analysis to inform our development of new topics and to prioritize features we’re going to research for future implementation on the NIHSeniorHealth site.
Chrysta Meadowbrooke reviewed appropriations reports from the House and Senate and highlighted language relevant to the National Library of Medicine and Public Access. We intend to examine the relevant language and ensure that we followed up on what Congress was asking us to do. Shortly after Chrysta finished her report, the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY09 was signed and staff worked to pull out the portions relevant to NLM. The Library’s Deputy Director, Betsy Humphreys, asked that the language from the Committee Reports be pulled as well, and since Chrysta had already completed the work, we were able to meet her request immediately. It was a gratifyingly easy response to the request!
Kathel Dunn, Associate Fellowship Coordinator
Jenny Heiland-Luedtke, Project Leader, SeniorHealth
Jerry Sheehan, Project Leader, Appropriations Language Analysis
National Library of Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/training/associate/
Posted by kkowatch at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2009
Pledge to Be Socially Responsible!
The UM Ginsberg Center is hosting a petetion that students can sign to pledge to be socially responsible.
The Ginsberg Center is home to several community service and learning programs. Undergraduate and graduate students participate in Center programs in Michigan communities and nationwide. They serve meals in soup kitchens, tutor children in schools, rehabilitate abandoned houses, and revitalize urban neighborhoods. They also explore the connections between the service they perform and opportunities to create change through social and political action. As they serve, they learn from the experience and gain skills they will use throughout their lifetime.
Graduates, Sign the Social Responsibility Pledge!
I pledge to actively work toward a more socially and environmentally responsible world. I will continue to honor these words long after graduation in my career, relationships, and all other pursuits, and encourage others to embrace this message as well.
Click here to sign!
Posted by kkowatch at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
Day Two - New York - Patrt II
After a brief remiss, I'm picking up where I left off in New York on Tuesday. After leaving the ARC, I headed just a few blocks away to two ASB sites that are part of one organization: Citizens Union / Citizens Union Foundation and Gotham Gazette.
See the Addendum to this blog to learn more about these two organizations. I had a pretty brief meet with my two contacts here, but I did get to hear a little bit about the projects that the three SI students were working on.
At the Gotham Gazette, under the fabulous Amanda Hickman, Jeremy Canfield and Nan Chen utilized their web, information architecture, and wiki skills to assist with a project called "Councilpedia." This is an encyclopedia of money in politics in New York City that will invite readers to help Gotham Gazette staffers identify connections between political donors in NYC. These SI students assessed what is available and developed a workable structure for the project that made good use of MediaWiki's capacity for templated content segments.
Carrie Ashendale worked with Sara Stuart at Citizens Union on assessing and strengthening Citizens Union's web site and presence on online networks. She advised the organization on its web communication strategy. This included looking critically at http://www.citizensunion.org its electronic newsletter The Reformer and its participation in online networks also looking at similar and related organizations to understand the range of strategies being used elsewhere; writing a plan for improving functionality establishing greater online interactivity and advancing Citizens Union's communication and internet engagement. Carrie was also slated to look at ways to generate more links and drive traffic to our online communications.
I have to add a note in here that the aforementioned Amanda Hickman hosted students in ASB in 2005 when she worked at the LINC Project. It was inevitable that Amanda and I reconnect this year, as I was hunting her down as part of list of past contacts that had been part of ASB and she was trying to connect with SI to again be part of this program. As a result of this connection, not only did we get Citizens Union and Gotham Gazette on board for ASB, but Amanda also put me in touch with the other new non-profit organizations that participated in ASB this year (including ABC No Rio, Green Map System, Lower East Side Ecology Center, and Tribal Link Foundation). I love how networking can work out to benefit the service-oriented community! So, thank you Amanda!
I then grabbed a cab and headed back over to east lower Manhattan to ABC No Rio. ABC No Rio is a community center for the arts on Manhattan's Lower East Side. ABC No Rio was founded by artists committed to political and social engagement and we retain these values to the present. ABC No Rio is a place where people share resources and ideas to impact society, culture, and community in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support. Since founding they've been welcoming and supportive venue for thousands of emerging artists, performers, poets and musicians.
Program activity at ABC No Rio breaks down into two categories: public events programming, and facilities and resources. In addition to exhibitions, public events programming at ABC No Rio includes our weekly hardcore/punk matinee; COMA, our series of experimental and improvisational music; literary readings; performance; and film & video screenings. We also provide space to other cultural and community organizations for meetings, workshops, benefits and forums. ABC No Rio resources and facilities used by artists and the community at large include our zine library, darkroom, computer center and screenprinting shop.
This was my most unusual visit of the day... the environment is very visually stimulating: every two years, artists redesign the entire inside of the building and thus the walls are an array of really amazing and unique art specimens. Definitely not your normal work place with cubicles!
Steven Englander, as director at ABC No Rio, is the only staff member. Everyone else involved to keep the organization running is a volunteer. He was very pleased to have Adrienne Klum spend her week working on their ABC No Rio Archive On-Line project.
Adrieene spent her time working on planning the implementation of the web platform Omeka to "publish" on-line digital files of documents relating to ABC No Rio's founding and early years. ABC No Rio had over 400 scanned documents relating to the Real Estate Show and ABC No Rio' early years that they wanted to make accessible to the public via the web using the web platform Omeka. Omeka will also be used to presented materials and images complementing exhibitions in the gallery space as well as other activity at ABC No Rio. Adrienne helped to test and explore Omeka and helped determine and document the approach that should be used to move forward.
It was awesome to visit Steve, Adreienne, and the ABC No Rio cat, Cookie Puss! The entire day two of my visits was amazing just because it was a unique look (for me at least) into how small non-profits function successfully in NYC on really limited resources. Steve shared with me that without Adrienne's work, the project tht she worked on would have taken months to complete. Because she was able to devote 40 hours to this project, she truly assisted the organization in getting a start on a much-needed project.
ADDENDUM
Citizens Union of the City of New York is an independent, nonpartisan, civic organization of members who promote good government and advance political reform in the city and state of New York. For more than a century, Citizens Union has served as a watchdog for the public interest and an advocate for the common good. Citizens Union, which was recently described by the New York Times as the influential government watchdog group, works to ensure fair elections, clean campaigns, and open, effective government that is accountable to the citizens of New York.
Founded in 1948, Citizens Union Foundation of the City of New York is the nonprofit research, education and advocacy organization affiliated with Citizens Union, though it is governed by a separate board of directors and operates with independent finances.
Believing that an informed citizenry is the cornerstone of good government, Citizens Union Foundation also publishes GothamGazette.com, a daily news website covering local issues like no other news publication in the City. GothamGazette.com features news, commentary, in-depth analysis and links to resources on New York City. It has become a vital resource for elected officials, policy makers, advocates, community leaders, students, media professionals, and concerned citizens covering local issues like no other news publication in the City. Since 1989, Citizens Union Foundation has also monitored the New York City Council and has published Searchlight on the City Council, a comprehensive guide to the city's legislative body and its action that is available on GothamGazette.com.
Posted by kkowatch at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2009
ASB Host Organization Participant Survey
If you were a 2009 organization participant in SI-ASB, please complete the feedback survey at http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228VLA5SU9M by Friday, March 20, 2009.
Posted by kkowatch at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)
ASB Student Participant Survey
If you were a 2009 student participant in SI-ASB, please complete the feedback survey at http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228VL23SPC5 by Monday, March 16, 2009.
Posted by kkowatch at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2009
ASB at ALA in Chicago
Update from the American Library Association main office in Chicago...
During the week of February 23-27, four students from the University of Michigan School of Information joined the ALA staff to work on special projects, two in the Chicago office, two in Washington.
Greg Grossmeier and Michael Perry, graduate students interested in information policy, have been working on short research projects and learning about the work of the ALA Washington Office and its allies inside the beltway. They worked with Alan Inouye and Tim Vollmer in the Office for Information Technology Policy; see http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=2126 for more information.
Ayoung Yoon worked with Lois Ann Gregory Wood, Council Secretariat, and Karen Muller and Jessica Horvath, both ALA Library, to complete the digitization of the Current Reference Files, which back up the ALA Policy Manual. The Current Reference File has been scanned and converted into PDF format with 600 dpi resolution, formatted for OCR (optical character recognition), tagged, and bookmarked, so that users can easily find information. The files will be added to the ALA website in the next few weeks.
John Lewandowski conducted a content and usability analysis of the pages that comprise the OIF website. He presented his recommendations on how the site should be restructured and some improvements for general page layout to a staff team who will work to implement the recommendations. See http://twitter.com/shifted/statuses/1258824256 for a comment!
The School of Information’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) places motivated students in professional work environments in the public sector where they can gain practical job experience, develop leadership skills as information professionals, learn new skills, and participate in organization events. Karen Muller, ALA Librarian, an alumna of the Michigan program coordinated the ASB program.
Posted by kkowatch at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
SI Students at the ALA-Policy Office
Two SI students (Michael Perry and Greg Grossmeier) were at the American Library Association's Policy Office in Washington, D.C.
You can view a blog post by the ALA-Policy office at http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=2126 with information about their visit and the work that they did.
Posted by kkowatch at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)
Update from Cabrini Connections
Dan Bassill from Cabrini Connections sent me a link to the project that SI student Tahoe Ko . Here's his message:
Hi Kelly,
The students are here and they have jumped right into their work. You can see how Taeho is interacting with us on http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/group/tmcuseofgismaps
Posted by kkowatch at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2009
Day Two in New York - Part I
Wednesday was my second and most busy day in New York City. I visited five organizations (technically six) and walked -- no lie -- probably 8 miles. That is one of my most favorite things about city life... miles go by with ease as there is so much to look at, or in my case, look for (I was looking to find some place to eat!)
First up this morning, I visited Green Map System. I had a great conversation with Green Map staffer, Carlos Martinez. I encourage all SI students interested in community informatics or social computing to check this org out -- they are doing some amazing things through their encouragement of communities to map out -- in any way possible: painted on a wall, printed on a map, or on Google Maps -- where "green" or environmentally friendly organizations and resources are located. This is a great project that's been around since 1994 and they have communities mapping in over 50 countries.
SI first year student Ke Sun is working at Green Map this week. You can read about her archiving project here. When I talked to Ke, she told me that she would also be doing some usability work for the organization. I left Green Map very excited as I see this organization to be one that could develop strong ties with SI as just about everything that is studied at SI is being applied at this organization. I left also wanting to create a Green Map of my town, Ypsilanti. Ann Arbor already has one! I would love to see some SI student or students work with Green Map, either here in Manhattan or remotely from Ann Arbor, in an internship capacity, so if you are interested, let me know.
I then had some free time, so I wandered around the Lower East Side, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Soho. My afternoon visits kicked off with a informal visit to the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Today was a gorgeous day for February and we actually held our meeting outside sitting on some benches along the East River. Chih-Ming Yi (a.k.a. Ricardo) is working on a variety of projects at the LESEC including rearranging the tool shed, but mostly working on updating the website for the NPO. I met with Caroline Kruse, Development Director, and Carey Pulverman, Project Manager (and the LESEC house turtle) who shared with the me the wide range of programs and initiatives that the group heads up beyond that of the composting projects. Carey and Caroline also told me that Ricardo is the best intern ever and they want to keep him forever! Great job, Ricardo, on representing SI well!
I then put my walking shoes back on and trekked over to the ARChive of Contemporary Music on White Street. There, I met with Bob George, an alumnus of the University of Michigan (School of Art) and a man with more interesting stories and restaurant recommendations than I have heard in a long time! At ARC, David Jackson and Noah Liebman each were working on their own respective projects which you can read about here (David - 1, Noah - 2). Project 3 is still available if you are interested!
Throughout the day, I was asking the people I was meeting with what the economic outlook was like for their organizations and how the economy was affecting them. My husband shared with me last night that in the United States, Washington, D.C. is still economically growing and that next is New York as a city that is hanging in there during these tough times (please don't ask me to cite this!) NY is, in some ways, affected by the economy (you can't forget the demise of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch), but in many ways things are the same there. People who want to move to NY because they just want to will continue to do so; people will continue to dine out and go out... thus their economy is more sustainable than maybe that of one that is dependent on the auto industry like in Michigan.
Likewise, the non-profits are still being funded and in some cases funded more well than normal because their funding organizations are trying to buffer for possible hard times in the future. All of the organizations I visited had a different approach for funding -- but all had one commonality: their funding came from an array of resources so that if one didn't come through, it wasn't devastating. ARC was unique in that they focus not at all on grants or city funding but on donors with sustainable wealth. Everyone had a surprisingly positive outlook on their employment situations and everyone was eager to talk about how to utilize interns - both paid and unpaid - to help them continue on their work as projects and initiatives are growing.
Back to ARC... this organization (from the website)..."collects, preserves and provides information on the popular music of all cultures and races throughout the world from 1950 to the present. Since the ARChive's founding in 1986 our holdings have grown to over 1.5 million sound recordings, making the ARChive the largest popular music collection in the United States...In addition to sound recordings and publications, the ARChive actively collects all books, magazines, videos, films, photographs, press kits, newspapers clippings, memorabilia and ephemera relating to the history of popular music--over 2 million items. We also maintain an electronic database of 35,000 people working in the music industry and 200,000 sound recordings catalogued at the ARChive."
Posted by kkowatch at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2009
Students Have Departed & Travels Through NYC
Over the weekend, 94 SI students departed to New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C... almost with out a hitch! Snags are to be expected, but all worked out well -- our students are excellent problem solvers.
Reports so far are good... everyone is at their site working hard and from the emails I see, students are also planning evening adventures to Broadway plays, salsa dancing, and hockey games, amongst many other plans. And, in each city it's Restaurant Week, so they are hopefully going to experience some excellent cuisine!
Today, Tuesday, I arrived in New York. Amazingly, my checked luggage arrived at the baggage claim at the same time I did! I departed LaGuardia, stowed my baggage at my hotel and walked from Midtown (31st Street) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A favorite museum of mine (ever since the days of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - you librarians and archivists know exactly what I'm talking about), it was a wonderful experience to get to visit this institution for professional reasons. The walk was invigorating, but a little chillier than I had hoped for. To say the least, New York is blustery in February.
Jennifer Henderson, second year SI student and returning ASB participant, is working at the Met this week.. you can see a description of her project at this link. I met with her supervisor, Jim Moske, who was a mentor for ASB when he worked at NYPL. (His wife is also an alumnus of SI and was at SI when the ASB program was in its inaugural years.)
I was interested to learn that what is sought in archivists who want to work at institutions such as the Met is an interest in New York city and its history and how such an institution as the Met fits. This knowledge and interests is much more important than a passion for art, although that's not to say that there aren't a lot of art history majors working at the Met in libraries and the many other departments. New to the Met, Jim was most interested in his position because its one where he's going to get to create accessibility to the museum's collection of papers from directors, curators, and legal records. Formerly working at NYPL where access is the point of the organization, his task is to implement a similar style (although some records will remain confidential) thus allowing for scholars and others to view some documents and records that are currently unreachable. We also discussed the digitization initiatives at the Met in regards to this particular collection... and they are in mind and forthcoming. Jennifer's project was to pull together a list of the museum's exhibits... the goal is to make this information available online and also there are hopes to create electronic records and give access to other parts of the collection.
Jim indicated that there is always a possibility of internships at the Met. If you are interested, contact me at kkowatch@umich.edu and I can put you in touch with Jim -- or he can put you in touch with other departments that might be interested in having you if there is a certain area that is especially interesting.
After the Met, Jennifer and I traveled to almost the northern end of Manhattan to meet up with second year SI student Jenica Baty who is working at The Cloisters, branch of the Metropolitan Museum of the Art with a collection that focuses specifically on European medieval art. Jennifer, Jessica, and I were gifted with a tour of the library and the collection by the librarian on hand, Michael Carter. You can read more about Jenica's project at this link, but while there, she demonstrated for me her work of scanning the historical photos of the Cloisters' building which was built in the 1930s.
Posted by kkowatch at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2009
ASB Site: Cabrini Connections
A returning ASB site for 2009 is Cabrini Connections.
Cabrini Connections is a one-on-one tutoring and mentoring program serving 7th through 12th grade students living in Chicago's Cabrini-Green public housing.
The ASB contact at Cabrini Connections is Dan Bassill. Mr Bassill is the founder of both Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection. He started his career in 1973 as a volunteer with the Montgomery Ward Tutor/Mentor Program serving 2nd - 6th grade youth in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood. He became a leader of that program in 1975 and from then until 1990 he used his advertising and development planning skills to increase the volunteer program to connect more than 300 pairs of youth and adults. This growth was also stimulated by the networking that the leaders of the Ward program did with the leaders of other programs operating in Chicago. Dan began building a database of these leaders in 1976 and started a series of lunch and learn sessions which became the inspiration for the Tutor/Mentor Connection.
Cabrini Connections is a grassroots non-profit organization founded to address the large number of children who live in educationally disadvantaged environments and thus fail to obtain the basic skills and experiences necessary to compete for employment in the global economy of the 21st century. The organization was founded on the theory that after comprehensive, volunteer-based tutoring, mentoring, and school to work programs make a significant difference, encouraging young people to finish high school and enter the work force.
Since its inception, Cabrini Connections has created opportunities for inner city children. By recruiting quality volunteers, the organization provides quality tutoring and mentoring to teens living in the Cabrini Green area of Chicago. Since January 1993, more than 400 youth have had anywhere from one to seven years of tutoring/mentoring.
Mr. Bassill wanted me to share with our readers the Cabrini Connections Blog which can be found at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/02/expanding-network-role-of-interns.html
If you have questions, or live in the Chicago area and are interested in getting involved as a Mentor at Cabrini Connections, you can contact Mr. Bassill directly.
Posted by kkowatch at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2009
SI-ASB Makes the UM University Record!
Last week, the UM-SI ASB program was featured in the University of Michigan's University Record.
Click here to view the article or read it in full text below!
Alternative spring break programs are growing
By Kevin Brown
Hundreds of U-M students this spring break will trade the beaches of Florida or Mexico for the February chill of New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., or more rural settings.
Some will spend their time off from the University providing community service not necessarily related to their majors, while others will seek new experiences related to their fields of study.
From Feb. 23-27, 575 U-M students — a number that grows each year — will travel to volunteer community service sites with help from SERVE’s Alternative Spring Break program, which started with only a handful of students 19 years ago. SERVE is a program of the Ginsberg Center, and part of the University’s Division of Student Affairs.
Student volunteers with the Ginsberg Center Alternative Spring Break program join local residents traveling to build water stations for Humane Borders in Tucson, Ariz. Students learned about the complexity of border issues and human rights from the experience.
The School of Information Alternative Spring Break program offers career-related activities in places like New York City and Chicago, and with government institutions in Washington D.C., where this group of SI graduate students performed their spring break assignments.
Similarly, the School of Information (SI) Alternative Spring Break program, which started with 11 students in 1999, will this month connect 94 students to volunteer work with institutions including museums, libraries and universities — the types of places SI graduate students will seek careers with upon graduation.
While these are the most prominent U-M volunteer programs dedicated to alternative spring break experiences, other U-M students also pursue internship experiences and privately organized volunteer service during the break.
“When you take part in programs like (SERVE) ASB, you come back with life-changing experiences that will forever shape your outlook on life,” says Jacquelyn Coats, a senior from Inkster, Mich., majoring in women’s studies and communications.
On two separate trips to Chicago, she volunteered at Alternatives, a multi-cultural youth development agency, and the following year at two middle schools. “You want to find a way to have a positive impact on your community, and everything you do in your college career and after is done with this desire in mind until you achieve it. And after that, you keep working at how you can make more positive differences in others lives,” she says.
“It was a great opportunity to try out a career for a very brief amount of time, to see what you think before you commit to a long term job,” says Elaine Engstrom of Perry, Mich., a second year SI graduate student who participated last year in SI’s Alternative Spring Break. Engstrom worked at Columbia University.
“I got to see how they run their libraries,” she says, adding the experience allowed her to evaluate a particular career path without actually moving. “I really liked it but I found it’s not exactly what I like to do, I’m more interested in the technical side of libraries instead of the customer service side.”
Students who participate in alternative spring break activities don’t limit their experience to work. Depending on their commitments, they’re also encouraged to socialize in the evenings and explore what the local culture offers. Last year, Engstrom and some other SI graduate students saw the musical “Rent” and took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. It’s typical for students to go out to dinner and socialize in the evenings, organizers say.
To join the SI program, students pay a $25 program fee and at their assignment city pay for their own local transportation and meals. Lodging at budget hotels or hostels and transportation from Ann Arbor to their assignment is covered by fund raising and alumni contributions.
The SERVE program asks students to pay a $125 program fee. Students who qualify for financial aid may apply for a fee waiver, provided by an arrangement with an outside donor. In addition to the participant fee, each group raises funds for program and trip expenses.
Student volunteers to SERVE begin training in the fall. “They should know what the community partner expects of them,” says Tracy Welch, SERVE co-director. “We cover everything from what kind of clothing they should be wearing to the mission and goals of the partner organization. They should know something about the local culture and politics, and ground themselves in what’s going on.”
SERVE volunteers are asked to choose among 10 issue categories, to determine which organizations they’ll work with. Those categories include environment; urban poverty; issues within the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender community; domestic violence; and more. SERVE assignments have included delivering meals to AIDS patients in New York City, repairing homes damaged in natural disasters, engaging with urban youth in Chicago, working with the Sioux nation in South Dakota, learning about sustainable agriculture in Texas and working with a community non-violence program in Detroit.
Teams of SERVE students coordinated by student leaders typically take University vans to assignments, some in rural areas. There are 35 assignment areas this spring.
“I think it’s really helpful for students to clarify their own value system and how they fit into the world, it’s really great to see the learning that can happen,” Welch says.
“What’s most special about it in my mind is the changes I see students go through because of the experience. I hear students say it changed their lives, their perspective.”
Kelly Kowatch, SI career counselor who helps direct that school’s Alternative Spring Break program, says the program has developed relationships with a range of institutions including the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Judy Lawson, SI director of student affairs, says the graduate students will be performing 3,600 hours of volunteer service. “That means 26 percent of our master’s students will be involved in a single year — amazing given how busy and committed they are otherwise as professional school students,” she says.
“Practical engagement is central to our school’s mission, and this program was an outgrowth of that focus. The program has become a signature experience for our master’s students and has led to summer internships and job offers. These students serve as ambassadors of SI and the University of Michigan, and the response from the host organizations has been overwhelmingly positive.”
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