SLA Europe has announced the winners of the 2013 Europe Early Career Conference Awards. The ECCAs are sponsored jointly with the Business & Finance, Leadership & Management, Legal, and Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Divisions of SLA to provide valuable opportunities for new professionals to develop and establish themselves within their chosen sector.

Congratulations to the winners, who will attend the SLA Conference & INFO-EXPO in San Diego from 9th-11th June 2013: Penny Andrews, Lizzie Caperon, Lauren Lawler, and Laura Williams!

Lauren Lawler is co-sponsored by the Legal Division (supported by Jones McClure). She is the Assistant Knowledge Services Manager at A&L Goodbody Solicitors in Dublin. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from University College Dublin, and a postgraduate diploma in Public Relations from the Fitzwilliam Institute.

Announcing the winners, SLA Europe President Stephen Phillips said:

“I would like to congratulate Penny, Lizzie, Lauren, and Laura on being selected for our prestigious Early Career Conference Award. With over 30 applications for the four awards, this year’s judging has been very challenging.  For the lucky winners, this award gives them an amazing opportunity to enhance their careers and invest in their future professional development by attending conference and building a network throughout SLA. 

On behalf of SLA Europe and the divisional sponsors, I would like to thank everyone that applied. I would like to extend my thanks to the judges who gave their time to evaluate all the entries. Finally, I would like to thank Lyndsay Rees-Jones and Simon Barron, co-chairs of the SLA Europe Awards Committee. They have done a fantastic job to coordinate and deliver the whole programme. Without their hard work and dedication, none of this would be possible.

I look forward to meeting all the ECCA winners at the SLA Conference in San Diego in June 2013.  I also hope they will help make SLA Europe an even more vibrant community, by becoming involved in our activities in the coming weeks and months.”

Additional information about the other award recipients is available at SLA Europe’s website.

SLA Europe is pleased to offer four 2013 Early Career Conference Awards (ECCAs) jointly with the Business & Finance, Leadership & Management, Legal, and Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Divisions of SLA. This year’s Early Career Conference Awards will provide valuable opportunities for new professionals to develop and establish themselves within their chosen sector.

About the Award

The Early Career Conference Award (ECCA) was established in 2007. The purpose of the award is to provide the opportunity for those at the start of their career to attend the SLA Annual Conference, and benefit from the networking opportunities that SLA and SLA Europe provide.

The Awards:

The Awards allow winners to attend the 2013 SLA Annual Conference and INFO-EXPO in San Diego, 9 – 11 June 2013.

Each Award is worth about $4000. It covers the full cost of Conference registration, hotel lodging, economy return airfare to San Diego, and meals and appropriate incidental expenses.

Award winners will be assigned to one of the four SLA Divisions co-sponsoring the Award and will be paired with a mentor from that SLA Division. Their mentor will brief them before the Conference, give guidance during the Conference, and maintain a link to the Division following the Conference.

Apply by February 15, 2013. See the application guidelines for further information.

Contact: Simon Barron and Lyndsay Rees-Jones, our Early Careers Co-Chairs, for further information.

Previous ECCA Winners

2012 – Chicago

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 was 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 was 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 was 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 was 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 was co-sponsored by the Leadership & Management Division.

2011 – Philadelphia

Chris Cooper is an Information Specialist at the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group, where he specialises in health technology assessments. Chris graduated from University College London in 2009 with an MA in Information Studies, and is currently undertaking a PhD at King’s College London. Chris was co-sponsored by the Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Division.

Natalia Madjarevic graduated from University College London in 2009 with an MA in Library and Information Studies. Prior to this, Natalia did a traineeship at The Guardian & The Observer Research and Information Department. She currently works at Queen Mary University of London as Information Assistant – Electronic Services. Natalia was co-sponsored by the Business & Finance Division.

Ned Potter works in the field of digitisation at the University of Leeds. Ned graduated from the University of Northumbria in 2009 with an MSc in Information and Library Management. Ned is professionally very active, and is the founder of the LIS New Professionals Network (LISNPN). Ned was co-sponsored by the Leadership & Management Division.

Samuel Wiggins is currently enrolled on the MA Librarianship course at the University of Sheffield, where he plans to write his dissertation on ‘the effect of pay-wall and changing business models on information management in legal firms’. Before starting his MA, Samuel was a graduate trainee at Norton Rose LLP. Samuel was co-sponsored by the Legal Division.

2010 – New Orleans
Philip Gatzke and Chris Rhodes

2009 – Washington
Sara Batts, Annie Richens, Bethan Ruddock, Laura Woods

2008 – Seattle
Hannah Lewin, Sarah Hammond, Emma Dhesi and Sandy Peterson

2007 – Denver (English pdf / German pdf)
Verena Till