GSLIS master's students I-Ju Chen and Brian Flota earned stipend awards to attend the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Annual Conference, which was held earlier this month in San Diego, California.
Chen, whose studies focus on competitive intelligence and knowledge management, received the student travel award from the Business and Finance Division of the SLA. The annual award is presented to offset the costs of conference attendance, and student recipients are expected to work as proctors for continuing education courses offered by the division during the conference. Chen received assistance with her award application from Yoo-Seong Song, GSLIS adjunct associate professor, and Roy Brooks, GSLIS career specialist and practicum coordinator. She was thrilled to be named the award winner.
"The SLA Conference is a great opportunity to know what LIS professionals do in the real world,” said Chen, “I really appreciate the sponsorship, which allows students to join the conference without worrying about finances.”
Flota received the student stipend award from the Illinois Chapter of SLA. During the conference, he attended a number of panels, networked with his peers, and tapped a great number of resources to utilize as he enters the professional world.
“The spirit of collaboration permeated the conference,” said Flota, “As a recent graduate from GSLIS with my career as a librarian right in front of me, I will look to my experience at the conference for guidance and motivation. The panels I attended, the booths I visited at the INFO-EXPO, and the interpersonal connections I made showed me that innovation is as important as friendliness, that opportunity is there to be grabbed, and that San Diego has the best weather in the world.”
SLA is an international association of information professionals who work in special libraries serving business, research, government, universities, newspapers, museums, and institutions that use or produce specialized information. Founded in 1909 in the United States, it is now a global organization with more than 9,000 members in over 75 countries.