We've moved!

CASLIS Toronto's student posts will now be featured on the official CASLIS Toronto blog. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Job search and professional development resources

Come follow our links on delicious! There's lots of great resources about job hunting, alternative careers, advocacy for special libraries and more. If you have a delicious account, please consider using the tag "icaslis" to add to our links.

SLA's Alignment Project & Name Change

As some of you may know, SLA and the special libraries community have been engaged in a debate regarding the name of the association and the term "special libraries". Check out the SLA Alignment Portal where you can find out more about the research behind this debate, and pick up some handy tips in regards to promoting your profession.

2009 wrap up

We've had a great 2009 fall semester at the iSchool, with two special library tours and a holiday bash to close the year. The next exciting CASLIS Toronto event, a tour of the Japan Foundation library, will take place in early February. Keep checking this space for upcoming events, activities and opportunities!

Japan Foundation Toronto Library iSchool Tour

The CASLIS Toronto student chapter for the University of Toronto's iSchool started the semester with an intimate tour of the Japan Foundation Toronto (JFT) Library on September 24. After a light luncheon of popular Japanese snacks and green tea, six iSchool students were introduced to the JFT's public lending library, specializing in Japanese culture, scholarship, and language education. Chief Librarian, Mariko Liliefeldt, spoke of her history with the Toronto Reference Library, and the incredible opportunity she seized to create a special library from scratch with the JFT. Student liasons Dominika Solan and Erica Sum would like to extend their gratitude to Liliefeldt and JFT staff for inviting students to the JFT library, to the CASLIS Toronto chapter for funding the tour, and of course to the iSchool students in attendance.

Read more about the tour in the latest issue of Special Issues. iSchool student May Yan has also blogged about the tour.

Rotman Business Information Centre iSchool Tour

The BIC tour invited six iSchool students across the street to U of T's Rotman School of Management where students learned about operations of this unique resource centre and had the chance to chat and discuss the field of business libraries over coffee and cookies with Director, Sean Forbes and Public Services Librarian, Laura Anderson, who also presents tutorials in using online databases at iSchool. Students were then given a tour of special holdings in the library, including the Rotman Speaker Series and Michael Bliss Collection by Erica Sum, current CASLIS Co-Liaison. Many thanks to Sean and Laura for making the time to speak with iSchool students, for CASLIS Toronto's generous funding, and for our iSchool attendees who asked our speakers some excellent questions.

SLA/CASLIS/FIAA Holiday Social

The 2009 joint Holiday Social took place on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at the Arts and Letters Club, a festive and much beloved venue. Friends and colleague from SLA, FIAA and CASLIS came together to celebrate and raise a glass of cheer in the holiday spirit. The event was well very well attended. Members from each professional organization mixed and mingled, enjoying the delicious hors d’oeuvres and good company.

Featured speakers included Joy Shanfield, 2009 President, SLA Toronto Chapter Claire Lysnes, 2010 President, SLA Toronto Chapter, our own president Lily Mac, and Kim Silk, 2009-2011 President, U of T Faculty of Information Alumni Association (FIAA)

The event was graciously sponsored by CEDROM-SNi, who generously gifted draw winners with gift cards and champagne!

Welcome to CASLIS Toronto and your future career!

If you are an iSchool student interested in special libraries, thanks for visiting! You may be wondering what CASLIS is all about and how our student chapter can help you.

In short, a professional association helps students and fresh grads find work. But it's also about building and developing an active community, demonstrating leadership and keeping the field of special libraries fresh and relevant, and critically, upholding values all librarians stand for. Having a job that supports and promotes your own personal values and being a part of a vibrant and active professional community go hand in hand.

The iSchool student chapter of CASLIS aims to connect you the CASLIS Toronto chapter, a small, local group of professionals who want to support your professional development as well as the development of our profession. If you are apprehensive about networking, just remember that librarians are amongst the most helpful, generous, and friendly professionals you'll meet.

CASLIS iSchool liaisons

• organize events and tours just for iSchool students
  
• provide volunteer opportunities
• network with other student groups and associations
• invite students to participate in CASLIS programming

If you are interested in helping us, please contact us at icaslis at gmail dot com.

If you would like to join CASLIS for a greatly reduced student rate, please visit the CLA membership site. After you have joined CLA, you may choose CASLIS as your division at no additional cost.