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News from CILIP
Wednesday 19 July 2006
For immediate release (Please copy to online discussion lists)
Winner of Elsevier/LIRG Award Announced
Strathclyde University Librarian Will Study Internet Access in Public Libraries
David McMenemy, a Lecturer at Strathclyde University, was announced the winner of this year's Elsevier/Library and Information Research Group (LIRG) Award, announced yesterday at Birmingham's Central Library. Selected from a strong pool of submissions, Mr McMenemy was awarded £1000 to apply to new research activities.
The purpose of this annual award is to encourage research and innovation in library and information science. Particular focus is on improving accessibility, retrievability and usefulness of information. The award may be used to defray research expenses, fund attendance at meetings, or to fund a study tour.
Mr McMenemy's proposed project, "Open gateway or guarded fortress: variances in public library internet access in UK public libraries," will commence in September with a results report submitted next summer. A sample group of libraries around the UK will be studied to examine consistency in the breadth and ease of access on the library's internet. While there are national standards for traditional access to materials within libraries, no such standards exist for internet access. As such, Mr McMenemy will study where there are information blocks and potential impacts upon people who do not have access to the internet outside of their public library.
Commenting on the award, Mr McMenemy said, "I'm delighted to win. It can be so difficult to get funding and I very much appreciate this award from Elsevier and the LIRG. Working in public libraries, I saw the issues surrounding internet access firsthand. It's fantastic for me to test my theories in this area, raise awareness of any issues, and hopefully move towards more broadly providing the information people really need."
Presenting the award on behalf of Elsevier was Tony Roche, Publisher of LIS journals. He said, "Elsevier's business is based on good reports of good research, and librarians are our key partners in making sure this knowledge travels to where it is most needed. The LIRG Award brings together all these threads, and it is Elsevier's continuing pleasure to be involved in this way with encouraging the very best academic research in librarianship and information science."
Contact:
Alan Cooper, CILIP
Tel: 020 7255 0500. Email: Mailto:[log in to unmask]
Notes for Editors
About LIRG
The Library and Information Research Group (LIRG) promotes the value of information research and links research with practice. The Group was formed in 1977 to bring together those interested in library and information research. In April 2003 it became a Special Interest Group of CILIP. LIRG aims to raise awareness of information research by:
* Increasing its profile and influencing its direction;
* Promoting the dissemination of sound research methodology and results;
* Assisting in the development of emerging researchers;
* Enabling networking between researchers.
The activities of the Group are co-ordinated by an elected committee of researchers, research students, lecturers and practitioners in the library and information profession. Visit www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/bysubject/research for further information.
About CILIP
The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the UK. It forms a community of around 35,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 22,000 are CILIP members and around 13,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises.
CILIP members work in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries. For more information about CILIP, please go to www.cilip.org.uk.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), MD Consult (www.mdconsult.com), Scopus (www.info.scopus.com), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.
Elsevier (www.elsevier.com) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).
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