Halifax, 21st July 2008

Fiona Black, SIM’s Director since 2003, has been appointed Associate Dean of
Management (External Programs). This position complements Fiona’s role as
Director especially relating to the development and launch of the School’s new,
mid-career Master of Information Management (MIM) program. Fiona will be
working closely with colleagues responsible for the Faculty of Management’s
existing and planned mid-career programs: the MBA (Financial Services) and MPA
(Management) which are both well-established; and, the MBA (Health) and MBA
(Natural Resource Management) which are under development.

The MIM, as a mid-career, primarily distance degree for the public and private
sectors, is an integral part of the Faculty’s strategic plan. In her new role,
Fiona met recently with a wide array of colleagues in Ottawa including Ian
Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada and Daniel Caron, Senior Assistant
Deputy Minister for Corporate Management and Horizontal Integration. Dr Caron,
with Fiona, is keen to establish a small, highly committed “think tank” on the
future requirements of information professionals in the public and private
sectors. For educators and practitioners, this “think tank” will complement the
long-standing work on human resources in Canadian libraries by the 8Rs Team at
the University of Alberta and the invitational summit, sponsored by the
Canadian Library Association and other stakeholders, planned for October.

SIM’s onsite program, the ALA-accredited MLIS, continues in high demand and we
look forward to welcoming 50 full-time students to the program this fall. The
MLIS and MIM programs are entirely complementary in program structure, course
content, fee structure and audience. Current information about both programs is
available at sim.management.dal.ca