DEAKIN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Deakin University (www.deakin.edu.au) has announced that Jan Weaver, Medical Librarian at Deakin University was named the 2008 Information Professional of the Year by the Special Libraries Association (SLA) (www.sla.org) Australia and New Zealand Chapter. The announcement was made recently during the SLA conference in Seattle, Washington, USA.

The annual award is sponsored by Thomson Reuters (www.thomsonreuters.com) and is open to all information professionals in Australia and New Zealand. The recipient must demonstrate great achievement in their career. The award will be presented in September at an SLA event hosted by the Australia and New Zealand Chapter and includes a cash prize of A$ 2,000.

Jan Weaver joined Deakin University Library in July 2007 as its first Medical Librarian, in conjunction with the establishment of the new Deakin University School of Medicine. Her role was to build a medical and health sciences library collection and contribute to the development of a technology enabled learning space within the Library at Deakin's Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds. With her extensive background in information services, Jan was able to successfully build world-class library collections and services to support the new medical program.

Colin Bates, Manager, Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences Library Services said "Since joining the Deakin University Library as our first Medical Librarian, Jan has led the development of comprehensive online and print medical collections and established very strong partnerships with the academic staff of the School of Medicine. This has been essential for the integration of information literacy foundations throughout the curriculum."

Anne Horn, Deakin University Librarian, said "Jan worked diligently to ensure that the collections and services necessary to support the medical students were available on commencement of the course. Her ability to evaluate and select resources, manage the financial aspects of building print and digital collections, and to develop and nurture the relationships necessary to make it all happen were exemplary."