Optimism

The increasing willingness of students to openly acknowledge the problems associated with the SILS website and the growing enthusiasm for addressing the related issues has SSS feeling a little optimistic as we begin another semester (Thank you, Jessica).

Do you think Tula will work with students this semester to improve the Pratt SILS site or will she dig in and continue refusing to communicate with students and address this issue?

Things That Made Us Weep Today

According to an anonymous comment, the Dean’s reaction to the creation of this site and the content of our posts was not to evaluate her design and implementation of the SILS site or to to take a hard look at the public image she has created for Pratt SILS.  No, instead Dean Giannini decided she wanted to root out the SSS rabble rousers and…do something to us.  We find it fascinating that the Dean’s response was immediately punitive, rather than reflective.  Not surprising, but certainly fascinating.

How can we discuss the core values of librarianship, including freedom of expression and privacy while the Dean of our School of Information and Library Science wants to hunt down bloggers writing about the School’s site, how it impacts students, faculty, and alumni, and how the site itself reflects an overall Luddite sensibility within the School’s administration?

Nonetheless, SSS knows Tula will not ask herself this question and posing it any other way is an exercise in futility and, apparently, dangerous to your academic (or professional?) career.  No wonder SILSA has quietly created a site that incorporates IA and stopped wasting their breath trying to convince the Dean to improve the SILS site.  No wonder they have not acted as student advocates in this regard.  Why publicly challenge Tula when she has shown she will punish those who don’t fall in line?

Duly noted, anonymous commenter and thank you for the warning.  SSS will be watching its back at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science.  A sad state of affairs, no?

The Thing That Made My Eyeballs Bleed Today

The latest addition to the html atrocity known as the Pratt SILS site:

OUR CAMPUS - Harnessing digital technology, we teach students to design a more usable and understandable world connecting people, information, ideas and meaning. The Master of Science in Library & Information Science prepares students as professionals in this exciting and challenging field.

Wah? I need an “embarassed” emoticon to fully illustrate how much I cringed when I saw this. Will anyone who looks at the site find this little blurb remotely credulous? I’d love to see a little digital technology harnessed to create a more usable and understandable website for Pratt SILS.

As a side note, it is interesting to SSS how people seem to feel personally about Dean Giannini. While that is not the purpose of SSS, we do believe the Pratt Institute Board of Directors and President Schutte may well want to take note of the students’ level of frustration and the Dean’s complete lack of interest, real or perceived, in listening and acting on student feedback. Great academic leaders put student and institutional needs before their own aspirations.

The Thing That Made My Eyeballs Bleed Today – Reader Contribution

Thank you to one of our dear readers who noted the “ridiculously out of context” pictures of students and their tattoos. I know they are Pratt SILS students and even why photos of their tattoos were taken at School. Unfortunately for us all, no one else does. No explanation is given, the students aren’t even named and, quite frankly, this isn’t the place for the pictures inclusion. The whole page looks bizarre and sloppy. I guess this is the Dean getting edgy and Web 2.0?

Good thing she’s not interested in any feedback from the actual students! Too bad no one has offered to completely overhaul the site! Oh wait. Yes, they have. Well, Tula probably knows best. Just look at the Student page for proof.

Questions for SSS Visitors

Do you have a stake in the Pratt SILS site?

Do you expect a website for your school to be attractive, easy-to-navigate, and full of useful information?

What are you doing about it?

Do you think the Dean is willing to listen to students?

Do you think she’s willing to respond to student requests and concerns?

If not, what are you going to do about it?

Leave us a comment and tell us what you think of the Pratt SILS Site. Reading, agreeing, shrugging your shoulders, and navigating away changes nothing.