The School of Information Management is pleased to announce that Master of Library and Information Studies student, Alison Froese-Stoddard, has been selected as the first recipient of the Dalhousie-Horrocks National Leadership Fund.  This Fund was established in 2007 to honour Dr. Norman Horrocks, OC, PhD, FCLIP (1927-2010) for his outstanding leadership in the field of librarianship in North America, Australia, and Europe. Over several decades Dr. Horrocks, former Director of the School of Information Management and Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University, pursued a distinguished career of very active involvement in professional associations in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia, the United States, and Canada. His many contributions, for which he received local, national and international recognition, have advanced the field and the careers of countless individuals. The fund supports a scholarship and an associated lecture series through an endowment donated by the many former students, colleagues, friends and admirers of Norman Horrocks.

Alison Froese-Stoddard is a returning MLIS student deeply committed to the interdisciplinary aspect of the information management field.  Upon moving to Nova Scotia with her husband in the summer of 2010, she first attempted to enrol in the MLIS program, but was informed that upgrading her academic credentials would strengthen her application to SIM.  This obstacle presented a remarkable opportunity for Alison to develop a deeper understanding of the socio-cultural context of modern Canadian communities that complemented her previous technical experience in customer-software interface management and production management.  In the next year and half, Alison embarked upon research projects that included investigating the integrative opportunities of the Halifax International Market, which was published in an undergraduate journal of ethnography; unpacking the political origins of Canada’s multicultural policy, which won her the Halifax Overseas Club Prize; and researching the little-known story of a failed federal-provincial joint proposal that would have established a third national park in Nova Scotia, which has recently been published in the Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society.

During her time at SIM, Alison has continued to incorporate socio-cultural aspects in her understanding of how the provision of services as an information management professional could be transformed to better serve the public. She is particularly interested in exploring how information management, community development, and the effects of federal, provincial and municipal policy intersect. She is also enjoying working with the public at Saint Mary’s University Patrick Power Library, and is keen to follow the lead of the community-minded librarians in that institution. This winter she is working on a thesis project investigating the factors that impact the sustainability of small community archives and archival collections in Nova Scotia.  In addition to her scholastic endeavours, Alison has been active in the local food community in Halifax, and is a board member of the Nova Scotia Food Policy Council.