The 2014 VALA Student Award for a student at RMIT University goes to Jessica Sullivan.

Jessica achieved the highest aggregate score in the three technology courses we use to assess the award – Document Management 1 and 2 and Information Organization. She achieved a high distinction for each of the three courses and was a clear winner.

Jessica has completed the Graduate Diploma of Information Management consistently achieving very high grades throughout her degree, with outstanding results in technology-oriented units. During her studies at RMIT, Jessica has explored a number of different issues relevant to libraries today, ranging from readers’ advisory to the creation of database indexing policies. Throughout the course, she studied both on campus and online, to better accommodate the demands of work, study and industry placement.

In 2013, Jessica completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne, with a major in history. She began working in a public library during her undergraduate degree, and grew to enjoy the job so much that she decided to pursue further study in the realm of librarianship and information management.

She is currently employed as a Library Officer with the Geelong Regional Library Corporation, and is looking forward to exploring the variety of challenges and roles within the industry.

Congratulations, Jessica, and good luck!

The 2013 VALA Student Award for a student at RMIT University goes to Penny Cook.

Penny Cook has just completed the Master of Information Management program at RMIT. She has the highest marks of all graduating students in the three major subjects which comprise the technology side of the program, with an average of over 90% in Information Organisation and Document Management parts 1 and 2. She has previously completed degrees in arts and science, majoring in linguistics, and atmosphere and ocean science, and has also worked as a baker. Penny says it’s quite a dramatic shift moving from baking to libraries, but she feels like she’s found where she belongs! She still loves baking as well as doing puzzles and also describes herself as a fairly lazy birdwatcher.

Penny is currently working in two jobs, as a school archivist at Emmanuel College, Altona, and as a librarian at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library. At the Athenaeum, as well as the usual circulation desk duties, she has also carried out some cataloguing projects, run an Australian classics book club, and she co-manages the library’s Facebook and Twitter presence. She also has an interest in special libraries which was strengthened during her industry placement last year at the Victorian Parliamentary Library.

Congratulations, Penny, and good luck!

The 2012 VALA Student Award for a student at RMIT University goes to Blair Gatehouse.

Blair has the highest marks in the three courses that make up the technical courses of the degree:

• Document Management 1
• Document Management 2
• Information Organization

Blair spent the first ten years of his working life working with books – first as a bookseller, and later in a sales role in the publishing industry. In 2010, he decided he wanted a change of career, and enrolled in the Postgraduate Diploma of Information Management at RMIT University. Around the same time he began a role as a Library Officer with Moreland City Libraries. He describes this as a fantastic job that taught him a lot about the demands of working in a very busy library. During this time Blair also worked on a part time basis as a Web Maintainer for the University of Melbourne’s Cultural Collections, finding this to be another great role that gave him really practical web publishing skills.

Just prior to finishing his studies earlier this year, he was successful in gaining a full time job as Lending Services Coordinator at William Angliss Institute. Having been exposed to special collections and archives at the University of Melbourne and William Angliss Institute, Blair now has a keen interest to work in this area in his career. Ideally, he would love to work on a digitisation project – something that would combine his interests of special collections and information management technology.

Blair says that when he is not busy working as a librarian, he loves cooking, brewing his own beer and going out to see live music.

Congratulations, Blair, and good luck!

The 2011 VALA Student Award for a student at RMIT University goes to Ben Chadwick.

Ben spent ten years as a psychologist working in clinical and research roles. He says that soon after graduating with his PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2006, he decided to do some “real work”, and spent two years as an at-home parent. During that time he studied some IT courses and discovered his passion for information management.

His family moved from Brisbane to Melbourne in 2010, where he worked at the State Library of Victoria and commenced the Graduate Diploma of Information Management at RMIT, where he was seen as the ideal student – focussed and serious, but also laid-back and playful. Studying both online and face-to-face, he was a highly motivated and engaged student who generously contributed his knowledge and understanding in class to benefit the learning of others. Ben achieved a High Distinction in every course studied and extended his interest in technology by including a Web Programming course as his elective. He was supportive of staff and has embraced his new field with enthusiasm and intelligence.

Ben demonstrates excellent technical capability balanced with a strong research background and healthy curiosity about people and life. He hopes to capitalise on his background in academic research and statistics by working with metadata for scholarly works, especially data curation. Besides his geeky passion for computer programming, Ben enjoys spending his spare time mowing, doing dishes, and changing nappies.

Congratulations, Ben, and good luck!