On Thursday, May 31, Sheridan was proud to host the Connect5 Conference, which brings together library professionals from five GTA colleges, as well as the Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS). Held at HMC, the theme of this year’s conference was ‘Open’: what it means, how it influences, inspires or challenges, and how it relates to work within the library profession.
The day kicked off with a welcome from Conference Chair Karen Lints, Applied Health and Community Studies Librarian at Sheridan and Co-Chair, Patricia Buckley, Digital Curator & Special Collections Librarian at Sheridan.
Following a welcome address from Joan Sweeney Marsh, Director, Sheridan Library and Learning Services, keynote speaker Dr. Catherine Hale, Director of Creative Campus Planning at Sheridan, did a presentation titled “Open: Living the Creative Campus.” Her talk focused on a variety of Creative Campus initiatives at Sheridan, including the Temporary Contemporary exhibit Nitsiit, by Canadian Inuk sculptor Couzyn van Heuvelen, the Jeff Thomas: Indians on Tour exhibit and the series of accompanying Lunch and Learns at the Gallery, as well as other initiatives.
Following the keynote presentation was a series of PechaKucha-style presentations from representatives from the five GTA colleges, which discussed various initiatives at their respective institutions. PechaKucha is a presentation style in which each presenter shows 20 slides for 20 seconds each. Each presentation is no longer than six minutes and 40 seconds. From Sheridan, Kathleen Oakey, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian at Sheridan discussed building a repository of Information Literacy Materials in a LMS, and Danielle Palombi, Manager, Centre of Student Academic Excellence & Angela Clark, Academic Integrity Facilitator presented on Academic Integrity initiatives at Sheridan.
After lunch, attendees received a tour of the HMC Campus. Guests then broke into small groups to discuss different themes on ‘Open.’ During the afternoon break, Sheridan’s commitment to creativity was evident, with a Maker space table, featuring button making, colouring books and brooch making.
Congratulations to everyone involved for making this year’s Conference a success!