March 9, 2009   

SLA Membership Award from FreePint

SLA Membership Award from FreePint
Programme designed to bring new members to international organisation

The information world is changing dramatically. At the same time, a long history of professionalism exists through organisations like SLA -- the Special Libraries Association (http://www.sla.org).

SLA is the international association representing the interests of thousands of information professionals in over eighty countries worldwide. The SLA Europe (http://www.sla-europe.org) chapter provides relevant local resources, networking and professional development to SLA members in Europe and the United Kingdom.

When the SLA was formed 100 years ago, the designated career path for information professionals was through a library and information science degree. Today, information professionals enter the field through a wide range of pathways -- and they may not even consider themselves 'information professionals.'

To help information professionals, no matter what their background, benefit from and access the professional development, networking and resources of SLA, FreePint is sponsoring two membership awards.

Early Career
The Early Career membership is for students, recent graduates, or those in the first five years of their careers as information professionals. Eligible candidates must:

• Be working or actively seeking work as an information professional, regardless of title

• Never have been a member of SLA

• Be based in Europe or the United Kingdom and be willing to participate in SLA Europe activities

• Agree to attend a minimum of two events during the year (face to face or online) and provide a brief report to FreePint on their experience.

Experienced Professional
The Experienced Professional membership is for those who have been working at least five years in the information field. Eligible candidates must:

• Be working or actively seeking work as an information professional, regardless of title

• Not have been a member of SLA for at least three years OR have been forced to drop membership due to budgetary constraints

• Be based in Europe or the United Kingdom and be willing to participate in SLA Europe activities

• Agree to attend a minimum of three events during the year (face to face or online) and provide a brief report to FreePint on their experience.

Full information about the programme can be found at http://web.freepint.com/go/how/award, and applications can be submitted at http://digbig.com/4yhse. The deadline for applications is
30 April 2009.

'SLA membership is an incredible investment when you consider the networking and professional development opportunities that are available locally, nationally and internationally. And where else can you use words like "taxonomies" and "federated search" without getting funny looks?' -- Marcy Phelps, FUMSI Find Contributing Editor, and SLA Member


ENDS
For further Information:
Robin Neidorf, General Manager, Free Pint Limited
Tel (USA): +1-612-392-2312 (direct; US)
Main office: +44 (0)870 141 7474 (UK)
E-mail: robin.neidorf@freepint.com

About Free Pint Limited
Free Pint Limited is a UK-based publisher of web sites and publications serving different niches within the global information industry. Its online imprints include:

FreePint http://www.freepint.com, an online community of 79,000 practitioners around the world who find, use, manage and share work-related information.

FUMSI http://www.fumsi.com, practical tips, articles, reports and tool kits to help everyone in an organisation better Find, Use, Manage and Share Information.

VIP http://www.vivaVIP.com, a monthly PDF magazine for senior managers who make purchasing decisions for information content products and services.

ResourceShelf http://www.resourceshelf.com, a daily update website with high-quality free web-based resources, including databases, multimedia and special collections.

DocuTicker http://www.docuticker.com/, a daily update of full-text PDF reports published free on the web by government agencies, NGOs and other public interest groups.

Jinfo http://www.Jinfo.com, an online database of information-related job vacancies and events.

Learn more about the FreePint Family and how FreePint can help.

Free Pint Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered Number: 3754418. Registered Office: Delaport Coach House, Lamer Lane,
Wheathampstead, Herts, AL4 8RQ