There are many ways in which to get involved in student organizations that relate to your career interests.  Below are short descriptions and contact information for each organization.

SCALA - The student chapter of the American Library Association meets once or twice a term.  It is affiliated with the American Library Association, the largest professional library association in the world.  Free to join.

ASIS - American Society for Information Science.  Membership in this student chapter is open to all SIS students.  Activities include participation in the ASIS mid-year and annual meetings, monthly meetings at SIS, which include guest speakers on various topics and tours of local facilities of interest to SIS students.  The goal of the organization is to foster professionalism among SIS students.  Membership Fees.

DOCTORAL GUILD - The Doctoral Guild is the student organization for IST and LIS doctoral and Certificate of Advanced Study students.  It functions as a forum for discussing and suggesting solutions for doctoral student issues, providing doctoral student representation on several SIS committees, initiating student-sponsored projects and welcoming new doctoral and advanced study students.  It also sponsors several parties through the year.

INFINITY - Infinity is a forum for students with an interest in preservation. Preservation concerns itself with prolonging accessibility to library and archival materials.  Infinity's hands-on activities, such as field trips, demonstrations and guest lectures provide valuable opportunities for professional networking and community outreach.

ISO - The International Students Organization (ISO) is comprised of students from around the world.  ISO serves as a support group for newly arrived international students assisting with housing information, acquainting students with American culture and giving tours of campus and the Oakland area.

MINORITY CONCERNS COUNCIL - Membership is open to all SIS students who are concerned with the special interests of minority students.  The group meets throughout the year to share experiences, socialize and to plan outreach activities.  MCC is involved with community services.  The Council meets monthly, all are welcome.

OPEN MIND - A Forum for gay, lesbian and bisexual concerns in the information profession.  OPEN MIND works to make the School of Information Sciences a welcoming environment for gay, lesbian and bisexual persons.  It also provides informational resources on homosexuality and related topics such as bibliographies, web links and guest speakers.

PRISM - Pitt Representation of Information Science Majors embodies the body of IS undergraduates. It sponsors workshops, speakers and presentations.  PRISM offers great opportunities for undergraduates to develop leadership abilities.  It lays the foundations for possible awards and scholarships for students with academic integrity and leadership qualities.

SAA - This student chapter is one of two national student chapters affiliated with the Society of American Archivists, the flagship of professional organizations in the archives field.  The student SAA chapter integrates knowledge of archives, preservation and the book arts into the LIS environment.  It sponsors events and speakers throughout the academic year and encourages participation in national SAA and other archival conferences.  SAA is initiating efforts to implement a network-based archival information and communications link among SIS students and other universities.

SISGO - All SIS graduate students are automatically members of the School of Information Sciences Graduate Organization (SISGO).  Participation is optional. The purpose of SISGO is to represent SIS graduate students in the University community, to further the career and social interests of its members, to provide a formal channel of communication between students, faculty and administration and to develop opportunities for professional growth by fostering contacts with local, regional and national professional organizations.

SLA - The student chapter of the Special Libraries Association sponsors speakers at SIS and tours of local area special libraries.
Members also belong to the Pittsburgh Chapter of SLA, which meets monthly in the Pittsburgh area for dinner and a program (often guest speaker).  These meetings provide valuable opportunities to meet and talk with experienced information professionals.

Source: http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/sisinfo/studentorgs.html.

    The University of Pittsburgh has its own telephone reference service, Telefact. National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" reported on this institution in November of 1996.  At the time, Telefact said the only questions they would not answer concerned song lyrics.  (You can imagine how common that query would be around here.) Now the website, www.pitt.edu/~telefact, contains a link to help answer the burning question "Who sings that song that goes…"
    Not to worry, Telefact won't be displacing librarians any time soon. The hours are only from noon to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. But their "Actual Questions" gives us future denizens of the reference desk a taste of things to come:

· How far away from Allegheny County are we?
· I'm in a park; there's a lake over here, and an empty pool. There's also a lot of recreation equipment...where am I?
· Are finals this week or were they last week? (Asked the Friday before finals, 1998)
· How do I find out if there's a dead body in my wall?
· Taking that the sun is the center of the universe, let's assume that the EARTH is the center of the universe, give me the orbits for all the
    planets if they rotated around the earth.
· How many people are buried in the Hoover dam?

Ask your own questions at  (412)624-FACT ·