Sam Wiggins: SLA Europe’s new President for 2015

SLA Europe DigiComms

Sam Wiggins, SLA Europe’s new President , is going to take over the duties of his role in January 2015. He shares some of his thoughts and feelings before moving on to this new phase in his professional life.

As I look forward to January 2015 and the start of my year as President of SLA Europe, I find it hard to believe that 2014 is almost over. This year has been a busy one and I’m sure next year will be just as full of activity. I have learned a lot from Don and Stephen, the current president and past-president respectively, and I am looking forward to working with Jon Coll, our new president elect in addition to the rest of the board and committees.

SamuelWiggins1I was thrilled to have received two awards this year; an SLA ‘Rising Star’ award, and also CILIP’s ‘Mentor of the Year’ award. Both of these awards I owe to the supportive environment that SLA Europe provides, the support of the SLA Europe board and committees, and the enthusiasm of my Chartership mentees. The Rising Star award is a wonderful recognition of the enthusiasm and achievements of those new to the information profession, and I am honoured to be among some very high achievers. Next year will see another group of successful young information professionals awarded, and I look forward to reading about all that they have achieved and their views on what I consider to be a very fast paced and exciting profession. I have been asked at several points this year how I find time for my commitments, particularly in light of my upcoming presidency. This has prompted me to think about perceptions around how time is spent. As is always the case, there is no right amount of time that one needs to spend volunteering – it only depends on what is right for the individual. My view is that so long as you enjoy it, then it isn’t seen as a drain on time, but rather something that can energise you.

Information Outlook, the SLA magazine has continued to produce some high quality articles throughout the year in its digital format. I was pleased to be interviewed part way through the year for a member profile, and it was great to see the work and effort that Stuart and the SLA HQ team put into compiling the publication 6 times a year. Part of SLA’s unique quality is the geographical breadth of its membership, so I felt honoured to represent the European Chapter in print!

I have also started a new job in the last year – switching to an embedded role from a centralised service has been an enjoyable challenge. At present, I am still part of the Library and Research Services, but situated within the litigation team of the firm. This creates a nice bridge between being integrated as part of the workgroup, whilst remaining connected to the other information professionals in other parts of the firm. Dave Shumaker’s materials on embedded librarianship, and pointers on the potential ‘pitfalls’ have been very helpful in adjusting to my new role, and I would encourage you to take a look at them, just out of interest if nothing else!

Writing is something that I continue to enjoy, although my blog has been rather sparse this year. I enjoyed putting together another article for Legal Information Management, and contribution to other sister organisations and publications is something that I’m keen for SLA Europe to continue to work on this year. We are currently putting together the programme for next year’s joint SLA/BIALL and CLSIG Graduate Open day. Collaborations such as this can really show case what the profession has to offer, and are a great example of how professionals organisations can be a lot stronger when they work together.

I am certain that next year will see another 12 successful months for SLA Europe. January will see our annual quiz return for another year, followed by a high quality calendar of events put together by our events committee. I will be marking the halfway point of year with a visit to Boston for the annual SLA conference, joined by another set of our Early Career Conference Award (ECCA) winners and other SLA Europe members. The conference theme this year is “be revolutionary”, and it will see some great sessions – I urge you to make the journey if you can. I look forward to meeting new members, and seeing existing members over the coming year.

 

Best wishes,

 

Sam

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