Andrew Dillon
Bio
Andrew Dillon is the Dean and Louis T. Yule Professor of Information Science at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin where he also holds appointments in Psychology and Information Risk & Operations Management. Formerly serving on the faculty of Indiana University and as Research Fellow of Loughborough University UK, he earned his Ph.D in 1991 from Loughborough and a Master of Arts (first class) from University College Cork in 1987. He has been a member of ASIST since 1995 and has served as Director at Large (2002--04), as editorial board member of JASIST (2003-08), as Program Chair for both the ASIST Annual Conference (2006) and the IA Summit (2002), as member of the Publications Task Force, as well as writing a regular column on IA for the ASIST Bulletin from 2001 to 2007. His research and teaching interests are in human-computer interaction, reading and writing, design, and creativity.
Statement
There are so many disciplines, conferences, and professional groups that now claim information as their primary concern that it is difficult to make sense of this field. As the terrains and professional responsibilities are contested, ASIST should lead the way in developing a more cohesive and unified base for the professions, where appropriate. Thus, I suggest some direct courses of action if elected President.
- ASIST should partner strategically with relevant groups such as the iCaucus, ALISE, ACM, ALA and SLA among others to frame a clearer identity for information science and to develop hiring, conference, and even accreditation processes that complement rather than compete with each other;
- We should truly demonstrate our determination to be international by examining our name, our conference locations and our membership structures to encourage and enable greater participation from outside North America
- Since we have been losing membership as traditionally construed, we should reach further to embrace membership in our affiliated groups within the IA, HCI and IR communities, and consider alternative forms of membership within the society.
- We should produce a set of public statements about our field, our profession and our value that speak directly to important issues of the day so as to move beyond our claims for importance to a demonstration of what benefits information science delivers to our world.
- We should provide sufficient support and infrastructure to ensure the active development and participation at national level of student chapters at all relevant schools.
I suggest respectfully that these are important issues for our society to address and they form the program for action we can pursue should I be the next president.
Jens-Erik Mai
Bio
Jens-Erik Mai is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, where he previously served as Vice Dean and Acting Dean. Jens-Erik was formerly on the faculty at the Information School of the University of Washington where he also co-directed the Center for Human-Information Interaction; prior to that he was a faculty member at the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Denmark. He earned his Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin as a Fulbright Scholar and his Master and Bachelor degrees from the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Denmark.
Jens-Erik's research interests lie in the broad area of representation and organization of information; his current scholarship questions the conceptual foundation of classification and it seeks to establish an epistemological foundation that accepts the plurality of interpretations across communities. He has published on conceptual and methodological issues in the organization and representation of information; esp. about semiotics, theoretical frameworks, indexing theory, domain analysis, and cognitive work analysis. His most recent publications explore authority and trust in information organization systems and services, and contemporary classification theory's conceptual foundation in modernity. He teaches courses on representation of information, classification, design of controlled vocabularies, and the theoretical foundation of information studies.
Jens-Erik is past chair of the Classification Research SIG of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
(ASIS&T). He has chaired the Best Information Science Book Award jury twice, and been a member of the SIG Cabinet Steering Committee. He has served the International Society for Knowledge Organization as executive board member and is currently consulting editor of the Knowledge Organization journal. He was the co-chair for the program committee for the 2011 iConference is the general chair for the 2012
iConference.
Statement:
The information field is expanding tremendously these years; many schools are growing, demand for information professionals rises, information ideas and concepts have entered mainstream consciousness, new information problems arise on a daily basis, and the need for information centered inter-disciplinary discourse is higher than ever. ASIS&T is the central umbrella organization in the middle of this tremendous expansion, and should be a thriving and bustling organization. In the coming years, ASIS&T needs to continue its focus on the revitalization of the organization, by:
- expanding its international reach,
- exploring strategic alliances with other organizations in the information field,
- strengthening the annual conference’s depth and breadth,
- diversifying ASIS&T sponsored publications, and
- reconsidering its organizational structure.
The goal of these efforts should be to create a broad and inclusive organization that embraces to the entire scope of the information field as it looks today.
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Diane Neal
Bio
Diane Neal is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at The University of Western Ontario, and holds the permanent title of Visiting Scholar at The University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia. Since earning information science degrees (MS, PhD) from the University of North Texas, Diane has also held academic appointments at North Carolina Central University and Texas Woman’s University. Additionally, she has been a systems librarian and a corporate information technology professional. She has held prominent positions for the iConference (2009 Posters Chair), Texas Library Association’s Automation & Technology Round Table (2005-2006 Chair), and South Central Voyager Users’ Group (2002-2003 Co-chair). Information about her teaching and research is available at
http://bit.ly/fDmIsq.
ASIS&T has been central to Diane’s career since 2001. Currently, she is the 2011 Annual Meeting’s Knowledge Organization Track Chair, Webinar Task Force Chair, Information Science Education Committee Co-chair, a Chapter Assembly Advisor, a Bulletin Advisory Board Member, and a New Leaders Award Mentor. She has presented at or moderated over 10 sessions at Annual Meetings, and was 2008’s Posters Co-chair. She has multiple publications in the
Bulletin and JASIST.
Her ASIS&T commitment has been recognized with accolades and elected roles. In 2009, the Bulletin Special Section she guest edited won the Special Interest Group (SIG) Publication of the Year Award. She has actively chaired two SIGs: Classification Research (2009-2010) and Visualization, Images, & Sound (2003-2008). Also, she was a founding officer of the award-winning Carolinas Chapter (2007-2009), and chaired the North Texas Student Chapter (2003-2004).
Statement
As information science professionals, we try to stay up-to-date in our ever-changing field, but time and money are common roadblocks. ASIS&T leaders can help by expanding the Society's new webinar program, as well as by further supporting specialized activities within SIGs and Chapters. Additionally, in order to sustain and grow ASIS&T, we need to recruit and retain active new members innovatively, such as by providing virtual professional networking opportunities. We must also ensure that infrastructure, conferences, and publications meet members’ needs.
Having been a SIG leader, Chapter officer, conference organizer, student, practitioner, and academic over the last 10 years, I can provide fresh but informed perspectives as a Director-at-Large. Receiving this nomination has been the greatest honor in my career so far, and I am delighted about the possibility of serving ASIS&T’s diversely inspiring members on the Board. I believe in our Society, and will continue to strive for its continued success.