Early Career Conference Awards 2015 – Winners Announced!

The SLA Europe Board is pleased to announce the winners of the SLA Europe Early Career Conference Awards 2015. Congratulations to Neasa McHale and Sarah Hume. Both ECCA winners will attend the SLA Conference & INFO-EXPO in Boston from 14-16 June 2015.

Neasa McHale is co-sponsored by the Legal Division. Neasa is the Library Assistant at Mason Hayes & Curran law firm. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and History from St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City University and graduated with a master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from University College Dublin in 2013.  Neasa is delighted to be attending the conference in Boston and looks forward to all the future experience and opportunities it will bring as it will be a great opportunity to meet information and library professionals from all over the world.  She is also looking forward to getting involved with SLA Europe and the SLA Legal Division. Neasa is on Twitter as @neasamchale

Sarah Hume is co-sponsored by the Competitive Intelligence Division. Sarah is a final year part-time student at University College London, studying for her MA in Library and Information Studies.  She is a part time library assistant at the Geological Society of London and at the London Library, a contributing writer for Hack Library School, and Chair of CILIP’s National Student Committee.  She’s especially looking forward to exploring opportunities to embed Competitive Intelligence practices in her professional life and is keen to finally meet some Twitter acquaintances in person.  Sarah tweets as @sarahfhume

2015 is the first year to feature the Competitive Intelligence Division as a co-sponsoring SLA Division whilst we welcome back the Legal Division for another year of ECCA awards.

Early Career Conference Awards cover all expenses including Conference registration, transportation, food, lodging, and incidental expenses.  In return the Award winners will participate in and assist with their co-sponsoring Division’s events during the Conference and report on their experience for their Division’s and for SLA Europe’s newsletters and blogs. Award winners are expected to continue their involvement with the co-sponsoring Division and with SLA Europe after the conference.

SLA Europe President Sam Wiggins extends his congratulations to the winners:

It is with great excitement that we are able to announce this year’s Early Career Conference Award winners. The selection committee had to choose from a pool of enthusiastic and high achieving applicants, but both Sarah and Neasa stood out by showing exceptional promise in their respective fields. The Early Career Conference Award is a fantastic opportunity for new professionals to be exposed to all that the profession has to offer, and we are certain that they will be able to make the most of time at the conference in Boston. I look forward to formally presenting Neasa and Sarah with their award at the International Reception.

The award is a great opportunity to also strengthen partnerships between the Chapter and other SLA Divisions, and our thanks go to the Competitive Intelligence and Legal Division for co-sponsoring this, the ninth year of the Early Career and Conference Awards.

SLA Europe’s Early Career Conference Awards are now in their ninth year and are awarded annually to library and information professionals who have been working for less than five years or are enrolled in a European graduate-level programme of study in LIS. Applicants are required to have excellent English language skills and be first-time attendees at an SLA Annual Conference. The application process involves writing a personal statement, providing an up-to-date CV, and obtaining a recommendation from a professional in the LIS field.