Quantum² Highlights
A newsletter of the Dialog leadership development program for information professionals

Dear Quantum² Member...
As is usual with our end of year issue of Quantum² Highlights, we bring you a round up of activities at the Online Information Conference, held November 28-30, 2006, at the Olympia exhibition hall in London, and focus on the latest group of InfoStars honored at a special ceremony during the conference. In addition, as we wind down for the holiday season, we offer a sneak peek at our strategies for 2007.

Online Information 2006

Our activities at Online this year focused on awards and recognition to members of the profession. In amongst the chance to showcase new enhancements to the Thomson Scientific and Dialog products at our stand, Dialog was pleased to announce the 2006 Roger K. Summit Scholarship winner for the International region. Our winner this year is Ms Liu Ying of Wuhan University in the People’s Republic of China. The award of €5000 in recognition of stellar academic performance is named in honour of Dr. Roger Summit, founder and chairman emeritus of Dialog. For more details on the scholarship award, please visit www.dialog.com/pressroom/2006/112806_rks_int.shtml.

Also honored at Online was our newest group of Quantum² InfoStars. InfoStars are inspiring examples of innovation and creativity, whose stories provide insight into their personal achievements and leadership qualities, enabling them to serve as role models for others, regardless of their level. For more about the InfoStars honored at Online, see the special feature below.

A special tribute went to Thomson Scientific’s own Dr Eugene Garfield, who received the Online Information Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his more than 50 years leadership and innovation in the information industry. Dr Garfield is the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI®), now Thomson Scientific. For more about this distinguished award to Dr Garfield, please visit http://thomsonreuters.com/.

Online would not have been Online without our contributions to the free Information Masterclass and Career Development Sessions. Victor Camlek, Director, Business Intelligence, Thomson Scientific, presented “Competitive Intelligence in the Age of Google,” and I presented a session on “Communicating Benefits: A Process for Conveying Information Centre Value.” Both sessions were well attended, reflecting the interest these topics have for information professionals in the workplace today.

2006 International InfoStars

At a special reception held Tuesday, November 28, we welcomed three new InfoStars for the international region:

• Jane List, The Technology Partnership, United Kingdom
• Carmen Pacho Guiterrez, Repsol YPF, Spain
• Sonja Van der Haeghen, Astra Zeneca, Belgium

Jane, an information analyst at The Technology Partnership in Cambridge, UK is praised for sharing her extensive expertise of intellectual property information through conference presentations and industry publications, particularly the UK Patent and Trademark Group (PATMG). She is an inspiring example of a professional who having gained many years experience is now working to share that expertise with others.

Carmen, responsible for Repsol YPF’s Technical Watch and Information Centre in Madrid, Spain, is honored for her enthusiasm and search expertise that has helped raise the profile of her department, and for building a proactive approach to those who use her department’s services.

Sonja, medical information and drug safety coordinator at Astra Zeneca in Brussels, Belgium, is recognized for taking charge of her own professional development after entering the information industry in a non-traditional way, and continuously challenging herself by developing her strategic and business skills in information management.

For more about our 2006 InfoStars, please read the press release accompanying the announcement at www.dialog.com/pressroom/2006/112806_infostars.shtml.

Looking Forward ... to 2007

As we wrap up a productive 2006, it remains for me to wish all our Quantum² members all the best for the holiday season on behalf of the Information Professional Development team at Dialog and Thomson Scientific. Please view our holiday card here.

And in preparation for the New Year, one of the strategic ideas we are thinking about for the ongoing development of our members is the investigation of additional avenues for delivering our virtual workshops, including podcasts of Quantum² sessions for use “on the go”. We would be very interested in your views on either how you might utilize this facility or which particular topics you would like to see via this delivery mechanism. Please send us your comments.