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Samantha Hastings

Brief Career Biography
Dr. S. K. Hastings joined the faculty at the University of South Carolina, School of Library and Information Science as director and professor in August 2006. Previously she directed the digital image management program of study at the University of North Texas, School of Library and Information Sciences and served as interim dean 2004-2005. She holds a MLIS from USF Tampa and a Ph.D. from Florida State. Sam’s research interests in the retrieval of digital images, cultural heritage, telecommunications and evaluation of networked information services influence how she views the changing roles for information professionals. “Without library and information scientists, there is little hope that people will be able to find the information and knowledge needed to flourish in the digital environment.” Sam tries to integrate real world experiences as reflected by teamwork and product development in all of her classes that range from indexing and abstracting to telecommunications. Sam has worked as a consultant and built full-text and image databases for accountants, dentists, doctors, lawyers and county and state governments. Along the way, Sam has worked to help public libraries and museums connect to the Internet and share their cultural objects in a digital environment.  She served as president of the Association for Information Science and Technology (www.asist.org) in 2004, was the editor for the ASIS&T Monograph series, published by Information Today, Inc. for 5 years (2007-12) and is currently the president of the Association of Library and Information Science Education (www.ALISE.org).

Benefits of ASIS&T
ASIS&T is my professional home and I knew immediately that it was where I belonged. At my very first meeting, Toni Carbo, the current president at the time, spent some time telling me what ASIS&T meant for her. I would love to say the intellectual stimulation is the most important part but the reality is that it is the network of people that I have met! I treasure the friendships and professional associations that the years of belonging to this society have nurtured. It is the work that our members do that builds the bridges between information and people. We are the structure, the ideas, the network that keeps information flowing, keeps libraries relevant and keeps the doors of access open. I would love to list individual events but I really think it is more important to just say that the ASIS&T conferences, committees, task forces and boards that I have served on and continue to serve, are some of the most fun ever! Don’t miss SIG CON is the best advice.

Advice for New Information Professionals
Life is short, pay attention and have fun in your intellectual pursuits. The life of the scholar is not easy, write every day and be consistent in your approaches to research — sometimes it takes more than one lifetime to find the truth. Stand on the shoulders of our information science giants, use their theories, keep your sense of humor. . .