I was awarded a year’s membership to the European Chapter of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) last month, supported by an anonymous donor who provided two student memberships. It was a great honour to be nominated and an even greater honour to win!
I was nominated by my director of studies, Professor Hazel Hall, who said:
Frances is thoughtful, intelligent, and conscientious, exhibiting the attributes of a promising PhD researcher and good academic citizen. Her work has won a number of awards, e.g. best paper at IDIMC2016 and “Outstanding contribution to university life” at Edinburgh Napier in 2016.
I had already planned to attend the ASIS&T annual meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. But now, I shall be attending as a member, which brings an odd sense of pride and self-confidence to it all. After all, I am now a member of a professional information science body. As my pre-PhD academic and professional background was media- and communications-based, this ASIST membership makes me feel a bit less of an academic outsider. (But I acknowledge that I will likely always be a multidisciplinary girl.)
Thank you, ASIS&T. And thank you, Hazel. And thank you, anonymous donor. I will do my best to be a productive, positive member of ASIS&T for years to come.