SLA Europe Webinar – How library and information professionals are coping during a pandemic?

Earlier this week, Stephen Phillips, chaired a recent panel discussion titled, ‘How library and information professionals are coping during a pandemic?’

This webinar is in a series of online events hosted and organised by SLA Europe in response to the pandemic ensuring our members can continue to benefit from professional development and networking. You can find further resources and information in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hub.

The panel discussion focused on the number of questions that have occurred to us all over the last few weeks in the wake of the pandemic – where are we now, what could happen in the future, what should we be aware of, and so on, as well as the debating the effects of the crisis on our working lives with our peers.

More information

Chair

Stephen Phillips recently set up SmartIM, an independent information management consultancy and was previously Head of Global Business Information Services at Morgan Stanley. Stephen is also an SLA Fellow and past president of SLA Europe.

Panel

All members of the panel are part of SLA Europe’s Board and you can read their profiles here.

Seema Rampersad, Senior Business Researcher and Service Manager, the Business & IP Centre at the British Library. Seema is also currently President of SLA Europe. The Coronavirus COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on the global economy and commerce. As an information professional in the business sector, Seema will discuss how services have adapted and changed in a very swift timeframe to continue to offer services to the business community. Most of us have continued to work within teams remotely, and she will discuss how this has been achieved with the use of technology. She will also give tips on how the morale and wellbeing of a remote team can be maintained in such unprecedented times.

Amy Stubbing is currently a Library Manager at University of East London and is President Elect of SLA Europe (2021). She has significant experience of a variety of library and archive settings, but has spent most of her time working in academic libraries. Her main career focus has been data-driven decision and service development, and supporting institutions to create cultures of data-driven decisions. Like many managers at the moment, a key part of her role during the COVID-19 pandemic has been transitioning library services and her team to fully online working.

Simon Burton is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of CB Resourcing, a leading knowledge & information management recruitment business. Simon is Past President of SLA Europe (2019) and has also been supporting the SLA Europe events committee through his engagement with commercial partners.