The role of the information professional in the 21st century

Yesterday I attended the New Professionals Conference held by the Career Development Group and the Diversity Group. The conference was a great chance for people new to the profession to network and share ideas about the role of the information professional in the 21st century. Several of the attendees had written a paper around this topic, and a select few were invited to give a presentation on their paper and findings. 

It was fantastic to hear the speakers take on the library and information profession. These speakers were all new to the profession, and therefore had a fresh perspective on the how the industry is changing, what challenges we face in the profession, and how we can better market ourselves and the value that we bring.

The audience voted for the best speaker, and Ned Potter was voted the best speaker for his interesting discussion on the stereotypes that we in the profession are faced with, and what we can do to overcome these stereotypes. He was awarded a bottle of Sue Hill fizz and with a £100 cheque kindly donated by Sue Hill Recruitment.

- Lizzie Russell

Comments

[Sue Hill]

It is a huge thrill to be able to send new team members out to such events. They learn so much and start their own networks. Lizzie we hear you did a great job there and it is good to read such a glowing report.
It is good to know our (the information profession) future is in safe hands.
Sue

[Kathy Ennis]

I was at the one day conference too. It's so easy to get complacent/blasé/tired (call it what you will) about the LIS profession; this was a real shot in the arm - and should be prescribed to all library and information professionals who have been doing the job for more than 10 years.
Congratulations to Katie Hill (University of York), Sarah Newbutt (The Grammar School at Leeds), Lydia Maynor (Eversheds), Emma Illingworth and Sarah Ison (University of Brighton), Kath Aitken (Derbyshire Public Libraries), Jo Alcock (University of Wolverhampton), Hazel James (Dame Alice Owens), Nicolas Robinson (University of Granada), Anne Sherman (Cheshire East) and special mention to Ned Potter (University of Leeds) for the ‘winning’ paper – for every one of these speakers it was their first time in front of an audience, and they were great.