11 December 2024
The UK electronic information Group (UKeiG) is pleased to announce that the winner of its prestigious international Jason Farradane Award for 2024 is Karen Blakeman.
The Jason Farradane Award is presented in recognition of an outstanding, creative and enterprising contribution to the library, information and knowledge profession. It honours Farradane, who first made an impact with a paper on the ‘scientific approach to documentation’ presented at a Royal Society Scientific Information Conference in 1948. He was instrumental in establishing the Institute of Information Scientists in 1958, alongside the first academic information science courses in 1963 at the precursor to City University, London, where he became Director of the Centre for Information Science in 1966.
Over decades Karen’s consultancy and professional development role has impacted many sectors and subjects, including business, marketing, company and health information. She has a degree in biological sciences from the University of Birmingham and worked as a microbiologist before joining Wellcome as an information scientist. She then spent ten years in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry before moving to the international management consultancy group Strategic Planning Associates. In 1989, she set up RBA (Rhodes Blakeman Associates) Information Services and went on to become a leading figure in the use of the web and social media as research tools.
Karen has made a substantial and generous contribution to search tool awareness by openly sharing her knowledge of current search technologies with the community, including search strategy formulation and awareness of the deep web and dark web. Her work on information quality and commitment to the absolute importance of information quality, currency, integrity and provenance is of note.
Karen has also helped raise the profile of the information community through active involvement with professional organisations, including CILIP – the library and information association – both as a Councillor and an Honorary Fellow. Her contribution to the UKeiG management committee in a range of roles from Chair to Honorary Treasurer, has been extensive and helped shape the professional development portfolio the Group offers today.
Chris Armstrong, retired information consultant and Hazel Hall, Emeritus Professor, Edinburgh Napier University submitted the nomination.
‘Karen is a worthy winner. Her influence through consultancy and professional development has been invaluable in the rapidly changing world of information retrieval and research skills. She is indisputably a distinguished, influential and inspirational figure, facilitating the effective use of information resources in a digital world.’
The UKeiG judging panel would like to congratulate Karen on her significant contribution to the profession. It is a timely award when the critical appraisal of retrieved search outputs, the need to identify robust, transparent and trustworthy information, is increasingly important.
She was delighted to receive the news: ‘I am honoured to receive this award. It has been a privilege over the years to meet through my work so many fantastic professionals who adhere to Jason Farradane’s scientific approach to information. Now, more than ever, we need the skills to help us identify AI-generated “hallucinations” and disinformation in our professional and personal lives. With appreciation, many thanks.’