91´«Ã½

CHICAGO—The 2019 Lois Mai Chan Professional Development Grant has been awarded to Dr. Ruth Baker-Gardner, Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Department of Library and Information Studies.

The Lois Mai Chan Professional Development Grant was established in 2017 by the of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) to support travel to the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference & Exhibition for librarians and paraprofessionals from traditionally underrepresented groups who are new to the metadata field. It encourages professional development through active participation at the national level. The $1,000 grant may be applied towards airfare, lodging and other ticketed events related to attendance of the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference. The recipient will work with a member of the grant jury or the CaMMS Executive Committee to identify relevant programs and interest group sessions to attend; attend at least one CaMMS program, committee meeting, or interest group meeting; and record their conference experience for ALCTS News.

Dr. Baker-Gardner received her PhD in Educational Administration from Northern Caribbean University in 2013 and her MLIS from the University of West Indies (Mona) in 2003. While earning her MLIS, she secured the highest score in cataloging from a class of 16 graduate students. Since 2014, Dr. Baker-Gardner has held the position of lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University of West Indies (Mona). Beginning in June 2018, she was given the responsibility to teach metadata and cataloging courses to both undergraduate and graduate students. To prepare for teaching these courses she worked in the technical services department of the University of the West Indies Main Library. As an instructor of metadata and cataloging courses for library and information studies for students in Jamaica, she will have a direct impact on the knowledge and skills of future librarians.

Dr. Baker-Gardner serves as a member of the executive committee of the Library and Information Association of Jamaica (LIAJA) and chairs the LIAJA Schools Section. She is also a member of the LIAJA Constitution Committee, the Jamaica National School Library Policy Development Committee and the Jamaica National Public Library Advocacy Committee. She was awarded Information Professional of the Year 2016 and was given the Award for Community Service by LIAJA in 2017 for her work done as chairman of the Cowley Evangelistic Basic School and as volunteer coordinator and teacher of CSEC classes for at risk students.

The is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats. ALCTS is a division of the 91´«Ã½.