UKeiG announces the winner of the 2020 Jason Farradane Award
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| Professor Emeritus Tom D. Wilson |
The UK e-information Group (UKeiG) is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2020 Jason Farradane Award is Tom D. Wilson (Professor Emeritus, University of Sheffield, UK). The prestigious award is given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the library and information profession.
Professor David Allen, Professor of Information Management at Leeds University Business School, nominated Professor Wilson, supported by Professor Blaise Cronin (Rudy Professor Emeritus of Information Science at Indiana University), Professor Hazel Hall (Professor of Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University), Dr Anoush Simon (Head of Department, Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University), David Streatfield (Principle, Information Management Associates), Professor Charles Oppenheim (Visiting Professor, Robert Gordon University).
The judges were impressed that his research fulfilled three of the criteria for the award:
• Contributing to the creation, promotion and exploitation of digital resources and services
• Demonstrating excellence in library and information science education and teaching
• Making a significant contribution to the theory and practice of library and information science.
Professor Allen comments: 'Our primary reason for nominating Professor Tom Wilson is his pioneering work in open access through the foundation and editing of Information Research: an international electronic journal. When the journal was established in 1995, it was one of the earliest electronic journals to be created. It was originally intended as a channel for promoting research within what was then the Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University, but was developed into a peer-reviewed journal from 1994 onwards. Professor Wilson acted as publisher until 2017, when that responsibility was assumed by the University of Borås in Sweden, with Professor Wilson as Editor-in-Chief throughout the period. As Editor, Web designer, and HTML coder, he has, singlehandedly, built the journal into one of the foremost journals in the field of information science. The journal attracts contributions from all over the world, and its readership is also world-wide. Google Analytics reports 25,000 to 30,000 users a month for the site and the geographic distribution shows the significance of the journal for the developing world: 14 of the top 25 user countries are classed as “developing” by the International Monetary Fund. In the past year there have been users from 151 countries - almost 80% of all countries. There is little doubt that the truly open access character of the journal is a major attractor for readers from the developing world.'
Professor Wilson is best known as a researcher in the field of information behaviour (a term which he established and promoted for the field) and for his work on modelling the processes of information behaviour and the formulation of a behavioural theory. His international reputation as a researcher is evidenced by the award of honorary doctorates from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the University of Murcia in Spain, and by the Award of Merit of the Association for Information Science and Technology in 2019.
Professor Allen continues: 'Professor Wilson was also Head of the Department of Information Studies (now the Information School) at the University of Sheffield for fifteen years. Over this time, he steered the Department through difficult times, successfully avoiding merger with other departments (and potential closure) and developing new programmes, building student numbers, fostering the research ethos, and leading the Department to a position of pre-eminence in the several research assessment exercises during his tenure. It is largely a consequence of Professor Wilson’s leadership that the Sheffield School attained its international reputation, which remains today.'
Professor Wilson was informed of his award in late December. 'I was honoured and delighted to receive such a Christmas present. I occasionally met Jason Farradane at conferences. I was teaching indexing at the time, so we had common interests to discuss. Having known the man makes receiving the Award even more special.'
UKeiG Chair David Ball thanked everybody who had submitted nominations. 'The judging panel were unanimous in their praise for Professor Wilson's impressive research, education and publishing portfolio. It is an impressive track record.'
About the Award
UKeiG’s Award honours Jason Farradane, who first made an impact on the LIS community with a paper on the ‘scientific approach to documentation’ presented at a Royal Society Scientific Information Conference in 1948. He was instrumental in establishing the Institute of Information Scientists in 1958, alongside the first academic information science courses in 1963 at the precursor to City University, London, where he became Director of the Centre for Information Science in 1966.
Previous individual winners include: Professor Tom D Wilson (2020), Professor Hazel Hall (2016), Sheila Webber (2015) and Professor Charles Oppenheim (2013).
Nominations for the 2021 Jason Farradane Award will be announced in the Summer of 2021
The UK e-information Group (UKeiG) will annouce a call for nominations for the Jason Farradane Award 2021 in the Summer.
UKeiG’s prestigious Jason Farradane Award is given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the library and information profession.
It will be awarded to an individual or a team in recognition of exemplary and innovative practice. This may take the form of a specific project, a piece of research or the development of a service or resource, for example.
The Award celebrates creativity and enterprise across the library and information profession in its widest sense. UKeiG has also announced a call for nominations for the Tony Kent Strix Award which is awarded for a major, sustained or influential contribution to the field of search/information retrieval.
Nominations must be received TBA
Nominations should meet one or more of the following criteria:
• Contributing to the creation, promotion and exploitation of digital resources and services
• Raising the profile of library and information services across the organisation
• Raising awareness of the value and impact of library and information services internally and/or externally
• Evidencing a significant contribution to organisational goals and strategies through internal and/or external collaborative partnerships and cross team working
• Demonstrating excellence in library and information science education and teaching
• Making a significant contribution to the theory and practice of library and information science.
Key characteristics that the judging panel will look for in nominations are innovation, initiative, originality and practicality.
The Award is open to individuals or groups from anywhere in the world.
Nominations should take the form of a short description (maximum 3 A4 pages) of the work in question, together with full contact details of both the nominee and the nominator. Please include any documentation, references or links which may support the nomination.
Previous individual winners include: Professor Hazel Hall (2016), Sheila Webber (2015) and Professor Charles Oppenheim (2013).
Previous teams include: the Chemoinformatics Research Group in the Information School, University of Sheffield (2012) and the United Kingdom Council of Research Repositories (UKCoRR) (2011.).
A complete list of winners is here:
Nominations for the 2021 Award must be emailed with the full supporting documentation to:
John Wickenden – Hon. Secretary UKeiG Secretary.UKeiG@cilip.org.uk
and copied to:
Gary Horrocks - UKeiG administrator info.UKeiG@cilip.org.uk
and
Sue Silcocks – Hon. Treasurer UKeiG treasurer.ukeig@cilip.org.uk
The closing date for nominations is to be advised.
About Jason Farradane
UKeiG’s Award honours Jason Farradane, who first made an impact on the LIS community with a paper on the ‘scientific approach to documentation’ presented at a Royal Society Scientific Information Conference in 1948. He was instrumental in establishing the Institute of Information Scientists in 1958, alongside the first academic information science courses in 1963 at the precursor to City University, London, where he became Director of the Centre for Information Science in 1966.
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