Asian Pacific Chapter Promotes ASIS&T at iSchool Conference
Report by Emil Levine and Virginia Ortiz-Repiso, published in INSIDE ASIS&T, Vol 1/2
Under the coordination of the Asian Pacific Chapter, ASIS&T offered a presentation at the iSchool Conference in Wuhan, China on March 24th. Entitled, “Professional Organizations in Career Development” members of ASIS&T presented to over 60 attendees. Representatives from committees, SIGs and Chapters discussed their role in the organization. Emil Levine, Chapter Advisor, Asian Pacific Chapter, introduced the speakers who were:
Virginia Ortiz-Repiso, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Chair European Chapter; Aylin Ilhan, PhD-Student (Information Science at the Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf) and research assistant at the Department of Information Science, Co-Chair European Student Chapter; Hong-Shui Liang, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei Chapter; Xiao Hu, The University of Hong Kong, SIG International Information Issues; Yuelin Li, Nankai University, International Relations Committee, Levine, Asian Pacific Chapter.
All of them discussed the professional activities their groups offered, emphasizing how ASIS&T is one of the most highly reputed associations in our field of knowledge, and constitutes a vehicle for exchanging ideas in a vast international context. The advantages to being a member were explained, with special prominence given on the opportunities for professional development in advancing one’s career and the development of leadership skills. In addition to the benefits of connecting with professionals, researchers, students and organizations both through chapters and interest groups and in yearly events such as the Information Architecture Summit, EuroIA, which will be held in Stockholm this September, and the Annual Meetings.
Two past presidents, Gary Marchioni and Andrew Dillon, discussed the impact of ASIS&T on their careers, as did Elizabeth Liddy, University of Syracuse. Javed Mostafa, editor of JASIST, described the journal. Koraljka Golub, Associate Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Linnaeus University, Sweden, and founder of the European Student Chapter, related how ASIS&T had shaped her career.
Membership procedures, with emphasis on the significantly reduced fees for developing nations, were presented. Twenty-one free student memberships were awarded, five for conference volunteers paid for by the Asian Pacific chapter, and 16 by an anonymous donor (20 Chinese and one Israeli).
The session was closed with a short Chapter meeting, and Miguel Nunes, Sun-Yat-Sen university and incoming chair of the Asian Pacific Chapter, discussed the formation of a Chinese student chapter.