Early Career Conference Awards 2012 – winners announced!

The Board of SLA Europe is delighted to announce the five winners of the SLA Europe Early Career Conference Award (ECCA) 2012. The winners, who will attend the annual SLA Conference in Chicago, 15-18 July 2012, are Simon Barron, Marie Cannon, Ruth Jenkins, Giles Lloyd-Brown, and Sarah Wolfenden.

Simon Barron graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2010 with an MA in Library and Information Management. Following work for Nord Anglia Education as an Assistant Librarian at the Army Foundation College’s library for Junior Soldiers, Simon took up the role of E-resources Co-ordinator at Durham University Library. Simon is co-sponsored by the Science-Technology Division (the Diane K Foster International Student Travel Award)

Marie Cannon is currently enrolled on the MA Library and Information Studies course at University College London, and works as a Library Assistant at London Business School. Prior to this, Marie worked as a Graduate Library Assistant at Norton Rose LLP. Marie is co-sponsored by the Legal Division (supported by Jones McClure).

Ruth Jenkins is currently enrolled on the MA Librarianship course at the University of Sheffield, following a graduate traineeship at the Bodleian Social Science Library at the University of Oxford. Ruth has also worked as a library assistant in a public library and Devon School Library Service. Ruth is co-sponsored by the Business and Finance Division.

Giles Lloyd-Brown is a Senior Library Assistant at Cardiff University Health Library. He graduated from the University of Aberystwyth in 2012 with an MScEcon in Information and Library Studies, where his dissertation was on the influence of web 2.0 on academic library OPACs. Giles is currently undertaking CILIP Chartership. Giles is co-sponsored by the Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division.

Sarah Wolfenden graduated from University College London with an MA in Library and Information Studies in 2008. Since then, she has worked as Higher Education Advisor at Kingston College, overseeing the running of the Higher Education Centre which caters for approximately 1800 students. Sarah is co-sponsored by the Leadership & Management Division.

The Award covers all expenses, including Conference registration, transportation, food, lodging and incidental expenses, as well as one-year membership in SLA. In return, the Award winners participate and assist in their co-sponsoring Division’s events during the Conference and report on their experience in Division and SLA Europe newsletters/blogs.

Announcing the winners, SLA Europe President Darron Chapman said: ‘I would like to congratulate Sarah Wolfenden, Giles Lloyd-Brown, Simon Barron, Marie Cannon and Ruth Jenkins on being selected for our prestigious Early Career Conference Award. It was a tough decision for the judges, and we’d like to thank everyone who applied. I am sure our 2012 winners will join the previous winners of the ECCAs and find that winning this award will give them an amazing opportunity to enhance their careers and help provide further professional development in the future. I look forward to meeting them all at the SLA Conference in Chicago in July 2012.’

The SLA Europe ECCA, now in its sixth year, is given to LIS professionals who have been working for less than five years or are enrolled in a European graduate-level programme in the LIS field. Applicants must have excellent English language skills and not have previously attended an SLA annual conference. The application process involves three steps: writing an essay; securing a recommendation from their line manager or a current faculty member in their programme; and providing an up-to-date résumé.

Co-Sponsored by SLA Europe, Business & Finance Division, Leadership & Management Division, Legal Division, Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division and Science-Technology Division (the Diane K Foster International Student Travel Award).

SLA Europe are grateful to EBSCO for supporting this award.