Tony Kent Strix Award 2020

Ian Ruthven, Professor of Information Seeking and Retrieval at the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde. Professor Ruthven leads the Strathclyde Information School Research Group (SISRG). SISRG operates across the boundaries between information and computer sciences and has established an international reputation for research excellence. Dr. David McMenemy, from the department of Computer & Information Sciences at the University, comments. 'It was a great honour to nominate Professor Ruthven for award. Since its inception, SISRG has become a popular and respected research team within the international research community. Professor Ruthven has contributed to its success by developing extensive national and international collaborations. His personal research is focused on the human experience of interacting with information, particularly on finding information. This involves understanding how people approach the task of seeking information, designing appropriate interactive search systems, and developing human-focused approaches for evaluating information systems.' Professor Ruthven met the award criteria in several categories, primarily the advancement of our understanding of information retrieval methods, experimentation and evaluation, at either the theoretical or the practical level; the provision of leadership in education, training, community development and/or collaboration to advance information retrieval at local, national or international level and the development and management of systems, networks or services. The international support for Professor Ruthven's nomination has been overwhelming. UKeiG Chair David Ball comments, 'The nominations this year were excellent, and the judging panel would like to thank everybody who submitted for their interest in this prestigious international award. There was unanimous agreement that Professor Ruthven's research has enormous potential for improving the quality of search and end-user satisfaction. His research on marginalised groups was particularly interesting. Information poverty, refugee integration, homeless people and young first-time mothers asking for information and support online, for example.’ Professor Ruthven is delighted by the accolade. 'Thank you all for the 2020 Strix award, I am very honoured indeed. Many of the previous recipients have been inspirations to my research and some very close personal colleagues. Keith van Rijsbergen was one of my PhD supervisors and I remember how touched he was to receive this award in 2004. Now I know how he felt. I look forward to being able to deliver the Strix Memorial lecture next year.' UKeiG is a Special Interest Group of CILIP: the library and information association: https://www.cilip.org.uk/

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