Tag Archives: San Jose State University

School of Journalism and Mass Communications Partners with Adobe

True to San José State University’s (SJSU) reputation as the best place in Silicon Valley to learn how to prosper in the 21st century economy, SJSU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC) faculty and student staff members from SHiFT Magazine and South Bay Pulse are pushing the limits of digital technology. Like so many successful Silicon Valley start-ups, seed money came from experienced players and visionaries. Early contributors to the magazine program included SJSU’s Lucas College of Business and Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs in Palo Alto, California.

“HP Labs helped us overcome the cost and distribution challenges,” says SJSU professor Tom Ulrich, magazine sequence advisor and digital publication program manager. “Our beautifully rendered magazines are available to a worldwide audience via HP’s print-on-demand service for about fifteen cents per page.”

Students create new digital magazine "The South Bay Pulse"

Journalism students create new digital magazine “The South Bay Pulse” to cover 25th Annual Cinequest Film Festival (photo: Christina Olivas)

With cost of printing and world-wide distribution in hand, Ulrich and engineers at Adobe Systems agreed to explore the most sophisticated tools for producing groundbreaking print and digital publications.

Last February, the staff produced the red carpet event at Cinequest. Staff members streamed the event live to subscribers across the world with Adobe software and $6,000 worth of off-the-shelf electronic equipment. They replaced the million dollar transmission trucks parked in front of the California Theater with portable electronic gear that every department on campus can afford.

“While still in its infancy,” Ulrich says, “we are convinced that these digital tools allow our students to rewrite the rules of broadcast journalism.”

As part of our ongoing experiment, the journalism program added South Bay Pulse, a digital weekly entertainment guide, to its stable of publications. In the summer of 2015 as part of the Adobe Challenge, staff members tested the December 2015 release of Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) software.

“With SHiFT magazine and South Bay Pulse, we are performing primary research in the undergraduate classroom,” says Ulrich. “In addition to contributing our ideas to Adobe’s next product release, we are the only group on campus to own an Apple developer’s ID.”

Adobe Systems professionals train South Bay Pulse students

Adobe Systems professionals train South Bay Pulse students

While Adobe created DPS in 2010 to clear the path for a prominent magazine publisher to move from print to the digital world, students from JMC are now helping to move the new industry standard forward.

“Staff members were chosen over students from other Bay Area universities to join seasoned programmers at Adobe to help develop the next generation of digital publication software,” Ulrich says. “Our students graduate not just knowing how to use these visionary tools. They are prepared to lead the industry.”

SLA Silicon Valley Hosts Dr. Sandra Hirsh for Inaugural Book Club Meeting

Information Services Today: An Introduction

Information Services Today: An Introduction

The Silicon Valley Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) hosted its inaugural book club gathering with a very special book and guest: Dr. Sandra Hirsh, professor and director of San José State University’s College of Applied Sciences and Arts School of Information and editor of Information Services Today: An Introduction. SLA is an association of information professionals with chapters in more than 80 countries.

An SLA Silicon Valley chapter member, Hirsh was invited to join the lively discussion of her textbook, which includes the perspectives of many iSchool instructors such as Wayne T. Disher, Dr. Mary Ann Harlan, Dr. Cheryl Stenstrom and Dr. Michael Stephens. Since its release in March 2015, the book has been adopted by a number of library and information science instructors around the country.

“It was really an honor to speak about my new book with the Silicon Valley SLA Chapter,” Hirsh says, describing the text as “a valuable foundational textbook for Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) students as well as current information professionals who want to learn new areas, brush up on topics which have evolved since they were in school, and learn from the leading thought leaders (both from academia and practice) in the field.”

Over dinner at Billy Burke’s in San José, Hirsh shared the goals and key themes of the book, special features like webcasts, discussion questions, and an online supplement. The group discussed everything from reference services to managing technology and demonstrating value through assessment, to issues like open access and information licensing.

Chrystelle Browman, SLA director-at-large and programs chair, notes that one topic of particular interest to the group fostered a discussion on “leadership vs. management, and the limitations on the words ‘library’ and ‘librarian’.” In response, Hirsh shared her own background in the LIS field, and the role that played in the perspectives represented in the textbook, such as the use of the terms “information professionals” and “information organizations.” “We also talked about the importance of continuing to learn—even after getting the master’s degree,” Hirsh adds.

As chapter president Cory Laurence explained in her invitation to join the book club, “there’s a lot of reading to be done as a librarian, and it’s the kind of reading that is really enhanced with discussion.” Information Services Today highlights current issues and trends, and provides expert insight into the emerging challenges and opportunities of the future, identifying career management strategies and leadership opportunities in the information profession. Hirsh was inspired to create this new textbook because “the underlying principles of our field are valuable, no matter what.”

With Hirsh and Information Services Today, the book club event was a bona fide success!

SLA Silicon Valley members take a photo during the Inaugural Book Club Meeting at Billy Burke's in San José, CA.

SLA Silicon Valley members take a photo during the Inaugural Book Club Meeting at Billy Burke’s in San José, CA.

Historical Uchida Hall reopens

The Fall semester started with the reopening of Yoshihiro Uchida Hall after an in-depth renovation that started in Spring 2013 as part of a $54.7 million bond-financed project that also includes the renovation of Spartan Complex, which began over the summer. The space will be shared by San José State University Athletics and the College of Applied Sciences and Arts Kinesiology department.

The newly renovated space has a refurbished mat room that will be used by SJSU Judo, which has a history of training Olympic athletes. The space will be shared with other Kinesiology courses that use floor mats, such as yoga. The building has an amphitheater that is already being used by several large classes for the Fall semester. It was used by the College of Applied Sciences and Arts for the college-wide Fall Welcome Assembly hosted by Interim Dean Alice Hines for as many as 150 faculty and staff. On the second floor, the roof of the amphitheater has been designed as a terrace garden that looks out toward Tower Lawn.

The building has an updated weight training classroom, an exercise physiology research lab, stress management lab and classroom, and an updated instructional gymnasium. The building has additional office space that is being used jointly by Kinesiology faculty and staff, along with the Athletics Department.

A tentative event is being planned in November to rededicate the building and to honor its namesake, Yoshihiro Uchida, who has taught and coached Judo at SJSU since the 1940s.

For photos of the new space since the start of classes, visit http://blogs.sjsu.edu/today/2014/yosh-uchida-hall-renewed/

SJSU school puts emphasis on ‘Information’ with new branding

San José State University’s School of Library and Information Sciences has changed its name to the School of Information. The school, which is part of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, launched the new name on Aug. 1, complete with a new website address: http://ischool.sjsu.edu/.

“We are excited to introduce a new name for the school that is more inclusive of all our educational programs and reflects the diverse career opportunities our graduates will have in the information professions,” said Dr. Sandra Hirsh, director of the SJSU School of Information, in a blog post on the school’s website.

While the school’s name is changing, the names of graduate degrees offered by the school are not changing. The SJSU School of Information continues to offer a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science (http://ischool.sjsu.edu/programs/master-library-and-information-science-mlis – MLIS) and a Master’s degree in Archives and Records Administration (http://ischool.sjsu.edu/programs/master-archives-records-administration-mara – MARA).

To read the full blog posting on the new name, visit http://ischool.sjsu.edu/about/news/detail/sjsu-school-library-and-information-science-announces-new-school-name-reflects

Kine prof receives national honor

Dr. Emily H. Wughalter has been named the recipient of the Luther Halsey Gulick Medal from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) for 2014. Wughalter will receive her award at the AAHPERD National Convention and Exposition on April 4, during the Hall of Fame Banquet at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel, in Missouri. She is a professor in the kinesiology department in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts at San José State University.

Emily Wughalter

Emily Wughalter

The medal is awarded for long and distinguished service to one or more of the professions represented by AAHPERD, which is the largest professional  organization serving health and physical education professionals.

Wughalter has held multiple service and leadership positions with AAHPERD, including two terms as a board of governors representative, vice president of the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport, the president of the Research Consortium and a member of the Social Justice and Diversity Committee of AAHPERD.

Most recently she served as a member of the Visioning Committee for the unification of AAHPERD that will become the Society for Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America) in April 2014.

Over a span of 33 years, Wughalter has often served simultaneously on multiple boards to advance the fields of physical education and kinesiology. She has provided leadership in the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education from which she received the Distinguished Service Award in January. She is also past president of the Western Society for Physical Education for College Women. Her sustained and significant leadership and commitment to girls and women in sport, and social justice and diversity issues is a vein that runs through all the work she does and often puts her on the margins of change.

The Luther Halsey Gulick Medal is named for Gulick (1865–1918), who spent his adult life promoting physical education instruction through his work with the YMCA and New York City public schools. Gulick is credited with having a student develop a game that could be played indoors which evolved into the now popular sport of basketball.

Emily Wughalter with her dog Ruby.

Emily Wughalter with her dog Ruby.