SLA-Iowa Chapter

Conference Scholarship

Dana Smith, President
SLA-Iowa Chapter
Library Resources, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Johnston, IA
dana.smith@pioneer.com

SLA-Iowa Chapter Student Scholarship (Deadline January 31, 2009)

Are you interested in a paid, guided tour of your first professional conference? Look no further.

The Iowa Chapter of SLA will award a $1200 stipend to a library and information science student to attend SLA's Annual Conference in Washington, DC June 14-17, 2009.

Click here for information on the conference.

Application requirements are as follows:

1. Applicants must be Iowa residents.
   
2. Applicants must be SLA members at the time of the conference.
3. Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate program in library and information science at the time of the conference.
4. Applicants must be attending their first SLA conference.
5. Applications must include:
   • a short essay on your interest in special/corporate libraries,
   • a letter of recommendation from a faculty member, or an immediate supervisor,
   • a current resume.
6. Post conference requirements include:
   • publication of the essay in SLA@iowa newsletter,
   • attendance at both the spring and fall meetings of the Iowa Chapter (the recipient will receive complimentary registration at both meetings),
   • a fifteen minute presentation at the fall Iowa Chapter meeting on the conference.
7. The winner will receive the award prior to the conference.
8. The winner will meet with a designated chapter member at least once during the conference.
9. Applications should include address, telephone number, email address, etc., and be submitted by January 31, 2009.

Send electronically to:
Jacqueline Snider
Email: sniderji53@hotmail.com

2008 SLA Conference Scholarship Winner

SLA-Iowa Chapter awarded Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez its 2008 Student Scholarship to attend the 2008 SLA Annual Conference in Seattle. Elizabeth, an Iowa native, was raised in West Des Moines and attended Valley High School. She graduated in 2007 from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Interdepartmental Health Studies.  In 2006, Elizabeth became a small business owner, publishing and distributing a Spanish-language bulletin twice monthly.  

She became more aware of SLA-Iowa and its parent organization during her first semester in library school when an SLA-IA member came to one of her classes to discuss the field.  Elizabeth's exposure to SLA via the Iowa chapter has opened up the world of corporate and company information and knowledge management.  She's anxious to learn and develop new skills to help with her current business, and to expand her knowledge in analyzing company information and competitive intelligence research.  During the Spring of 2008, Elizabeth had the opportunity to work in a special library for several weeks and came to better understand how special librarians fit within their organizations. She is looking forward to beginning a job search within special libraries in anticipation of her December 2008 graduation.

In her letter of recommendation, Padmini Srinvasan, University of Iowa Professor, spoke of Elizabeth's "phenomenal" performance since joining the MA program as a Digital Library Fellow. The project is about using XML to make existing health texts more accessible for diverse cultures and for non-literate and semi-literate populations.  During their work together, Professor Srinvasan gives nearly full credit to Elizabeth for building, demonstrating and having had accepted a prototype of a health literacy book titled "Where there is no doctor."  In addition to presenting at the Document Academy Conference in 2008 (University of Wisconsin-Madison) in March, a proposal was submitted in January 2008 to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to convert the complete book using Srinivasan and Galvez's XML model. 

We look forward to Galvez's report during our Fall 2008 meeting and her essay about her Seattle experience in the December 2008 issue of the Iowa Chapter Bulletin, SLA@iowa.

2007 SLA Conference Scholarship Winner

SLA-Iowa Chapter awarded Tara Marsh its 2007 Student Scholarship to attend the 2007 SLA Annual Conference in Denver. Marsh, an Eastern Iowan native, was born and raised in Cedar Rapids. After graduating from Washington High School she trekked out to California to attend the University of Southern California with dreams of studying film. She must have already had an interest in libraries then--she worked at the Doheny Memorial Library, USC Los Angeles, California, and also at Syracuse University library in Florence, Italy, where she participated in a study abroad program.

Though she went far away, Marsh found herself back in Cedar Rapids after graduating magnum cum laude in 2004 from USC with a BA in Fine Arts. She is currently working fulltime as an office manager for a small professional network management firm, Fiberutilities Group, while pursuing her MLIS degree at the University of Iowa.

In his letter of recommendation, Scot J. Eberle, President of Fiberutilities Group, gave Marsh his full support, saying, "She has clearly become our team’s ‘go to person.’ Tara fills a unique niche here in our office which is invaluable." Special librarians know these qualities are an absolute must in knowledge and information management. It was clear in Marsh’s essay, that, although she is still taking classes, she already understands special librarianship. She wrote, "Even though my detailed understanding of the professional role is imperfect, what excites me about corporate librarianship is how it’s a highly tailored application of librarianship to a particular environment. What also excites me is how my role will change with the changing information needs of the organization; I will get to grow professionally with the organization."

Look for Marsh’s essay about her SLA experiences in the December 2007 issue of the Iowa Chapter Bulletin, SLA@iowa.