Next month, SLA will honor the best of the information management profession by recognizing them during the 91st Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The twenty-two individuals who have been selected for their leadership, for their innovative style, for their integrity, and for their courage, are the models we hold up for the rest of the profession to admire and to emulate. Let's take a look at who you'll see on stage in Philly . . . .
Most notable of the award recipients is Bill Gates, chairman and co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, who was selected as an Honorary Member of the Association. Gates is recognized for his longstanding commitment to libraries and information professionals who serve in all sectors of society. Gates delivered the keynote address at the 89th SLA Conference in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Induction into the SLA Hall of Fame is a significant acknowledgment of distinguished service to the profession and the Association through one's career. This year's inductees are: Dorothy McGarry of Los Angeles, who is retired from the University of California, Los Angeles; Edwina "Didi" Pancake, who is retired from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; and Anne Galler, who was selected posthumously after a long career in library studies at Concordia University in Côte St. Luc, Quebec Canada. Galler, McGarry, and Pancake were selected for their longtime service to their profession and commitment to SLA.
The John Cotton Dana Award, named for the founder of SLA, is conferred upon an SLA member for exceptional service to special librarianship. This year's recipient is Jane I. Dysart, who is a partner in the library consulting firm Dysart and Jones of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dysart has been recognized most notably for her achievements in leading the development of SLA's Virtual Association and educating her professional peers for greater success.
The SLA President's Award is given annually to an SLA member who displays an ongoing commitment to the development of the Association as the premier organization for information professionals. This year, the award is conferred upon Marjorie M.K. Hlava, president and chairman of the board of Access Innovations, Inc. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Hlava is recognized for her longstanding involvement as a volunteer and elected leader with SLA, and for the continued setting of standards that her colleagues in the profession have followed.
The Dow Jones Leadership Award is intended for an SLA member who exemplifies leadership as a special librarian through examples of personal and professional competencies. This year's award goes to Janice F. Chindlund, manager of the Business Research Information Center at McDonald's Corporation in Oak Brook, Illinois, USA. Chindlund is recognized for her expert knowledge of information resources; her skills in communicating with senior management; her commitment to lifelong learning and professional networking; and her flexible and positive work ethic in times of change. The award is based on the acclaimed "Competencies for Special Librarians of the 21st Century," which can be found on the Internet at www.sla.org/professional/comp.html.
Fellows of the Special Libraries Association are called upon and expected to advise the Association's Board of Directors, alert the membership to issues and trends warranting action, and are recognized as active SLA members with future leadership potential for the Association. The 1999 Fellows are: Elizabeth A. Bibby, director of Business Information Services at the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Jo Anne Boorkman, head of the Health Sciences Library at the University of California at Davis, USA; Richard P. Hulser, Content Management Product Marketing Manager for IBM Corporation, New Haven Connecticut, USA; Sylvia E. Piggott, deputy division chief for Joint Library Administration at the International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC, USA; and Daniel B. Trefethen, a librarian with Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington, USA.
The SLA Professional Award is presented to an individual or group who may or may not hold membership in the Association, in recognition of major achievements in, or a specific significant contribution to, the field of librarianship or information science. This year's award is presented posthumously to Sue Rugge, founder and president of Information on Demand in Oakland, California, USA. Rugge achieved success in the information profession with little formal education beyond high school, and she became a very well-respected information professional due to her spirit, drive, and determination.
The Rose L. Vormelker Award is given to an SLA member recognized for exceptional services to the profession of special librarianship in the area of mentoring students and/or practicing professionals in the field. This year's award recipients are: Barbara P. Semonche, library director for the University of North Carolina School of Journalism in Chapel Hill, USA; and Elizabeth W. Stone, dean emerita of the School of Library and Information Science at The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA. Both were recognized for their unwavering commitment to the development of students in library science programs into professionals who have learned inside and outside the classroom.
SLA's Diversity Leadership Development Awards recognize individuals with strong leadership abilities and expected development as role models for the profession. This years winners are: Jannie R. Cobb, librarian at the George Meany Archives Library of the AFL-CIO in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA; Alvetta Pindell, head of the Information Research Services Branch of the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland, USA; Lilleth Newby, director of the HIV Research Library for the New York City Department of Health in New York, New York, USA. Each of these outstanding professionals will receive a $1,000 stipend for use in attending the SLA Annual Conference and will be mentored by a longstanding SLA member who has been selected based on his or her experience in the profession.
The Innovations in Technology Award recognizes information professionals for their innovative use and application of technology in a special library setting. This year's winners are Deborah Kegel and Katherine Whitley, who together developed a leading-edge electronic article archive at the University of California at San Diego, USA. Kegel is head of Public Services at the UCSD Science and Engineering Library. Whitley is now corporate librarian for Bausch and Lomb Pharmaceuticals in Tampa, Florida, USA.
The H.W. Wilson Company Award is presented to authors of outstanding articles published in Information Outlook, SLA's monthly magazine. This year's winner is Stuart Basefsky for his article "The Library as an Agent of Change: Pushing the Client Institution Forward," which appeared in the August 1999 issue of Information Outlook® (Vol.3, No.8, August 1999, pp. 37-40). Basefsky will receive a $500 cash award for this excellent article.
The Public Relations Media Award recognizes journalists who have published outstanding features on the profession of special librarianship. This year's award goes to Valerie Gray Francois, who authored "Librarians Take the Spotlight," which appeared in the September 26-October 2, 1999, edition of the National Business Employment Weekly. The article highlighted the fact that librarians and information professionals are hot employment prospects, given their tendency to cross-train into other professional areas. Francois is currently executive editor for Hemisphere Incorporated. Which operates four web sites devoted to corporate diversity and responsibility.
The Member Achievement Award is presented to a member of SLA for raising visibility and public awareness of and appreciation for the profession and/or the Association. This year's award goes to Stephen Abram, vice president of Micromedia, Ltd. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Abram initiated a public relations campaign in response to an advertisement for the Toronto Argonauts football team that depicted librarians as quiet and boring. His efforts led to an apology from Argonauts management and an invitation for one hundred members of the SLA Toronto Chapter to attend a key Canadian Football League game free of charge at SkyDome. Due to Abram's efforts, the Argonauts recognized and thanked the SLA contingent during the game, and the profession's visibility was raised in a high-profile setting.
The winners of this year's SLA Awards and Honors were selected by the SLA Awards and Honors Committee, which is chaired by SLA Past President Judith J. Field of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. The winners were announced by SLA President Susan S. DiMattia at the Winter Meeting of the SLA Board of Directors, held January 20-22, 2000, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Awards will be presented to these distinguished professionals during the SLA Annual Conference, to be held June 10-15, 2000.
"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence."
-Colin Powell, retired Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff.
SLA Home Page | Join SLA Now | Feedback | Search
Copyright © 2000 SLA. All rights reserved.
RSS
Feedback form
