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Ernie is currently Vice-Provost & Chief Librarian
at the University of Alberta. Within this context he
has responsibilities for the University of Alberta Libraries,
Museums and Collections Services, the University of
Alberta Archives and Records Management, the Bookstore,
Printing and Duplicating Services, the University of
Alberta Press, University Design Inc., and a variety
of Services focused on the external community which
comprise a business unity termed University Information
Enterprises. He is responsible, also, for administering
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, and
Copyright Administration.
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Ernie received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees
in history, and the history of agricultural technology at the
University of Calgary. He was the recipient of the Rutherford
Cameron Medal in 1974 upon his graduation from the School of
Librarianship at the University of British Columbia. He began
his career working at the University of British Columbia
as a Reference Librarian, but returned after a short
time to the University of Calgary where he was Head
of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
In the wake of the post-Expo '67 renaissance
within the country, Ernie took a greater and greater personal
and professional interest in the area of Canadian Studies,
and by the mid-1970s was involved in a number of adventures
which were incrementally increasing the profile of Canadian
Studies within academic environments. For example, while at
the University of Calgary, he was instrumental in establishing
the Canadian author's manuscript collections, and the Canadian
Architectural Archives, which have achieved national prominence.
Then, for several years, as a Canadianist, he
worked with a group which, in 1977 with a $2,000,000 grant
from the Canada Council, created the Ottawa based Canadian
Institute for Historical Microreproductions/Institut canadien
de microreproductions historiques (CIHM/ICHM) of which he was the
founding Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. CIHM was, and is, charged with the responsibility
of preserving and making available for research the national
literature of Canada, initially through the use of archival
microforms, and more recently moving into the digital environment.
By way of his involvement, Ernie was able to assure the viability
of the Institute, which today, after twenty years, continues
to reproduce and provide access to hundreds of thousands of
historical printed works.
By the mid-1980s, while remaining on the Board
of Directors of CIHM, Ernie elected to return to the academic
mainstream, and assumed the position as University Librarian
at the University of Regina. Here he was instrumental
in a number of innovations, but includes of particular note
his founding of the RegLIN consortium, a group of libraries
working together to share an automated library system.
In 1990 he moved to the University of Alberta,
where as Chief Librarian and Director of Libraries
he achieved some prominence for his strategic planning initiatives,
his technology planning, the creation of the NEOS consortium,
the development of the province-wide Health Knowledge Network
(HKN), the planning and building of a Canadian university's
first remote storage and document supply facility (the BARD
-- Book and Record Depository), and his award winning outsourcing,
cost-containment initiatives in partnership with ISM Information
Systems Management. In 1995, he assumed the role of Associate Vice-President (Learning Systems), a new position at the
University, created to provide leadership, and a framework
for planning and coordination of information and instructional
technology and related resources for the institution.
He has been an active player within the Canadian
library and information technology communities, having served
over one hundred professional, association and community organizations.
He has held numerous executive positions on Boards, including
the Presidency of the Canadian Library Association, the Bibliographic
Society of Canada, the Council of Prairie and Pacific University
Libraries, and the Saskatchewan Library Association; and he
has served on, or Chaired, numerous others, such as the Library
Association of Alberta Executive, the Association of Library
Boards of Ontario, UTLAS International Canada, OCLC Research
Libraries Advisory Board, OCLC Members Council, Canadian Association of College
and University Libraries, the Canadian Association of Research
Libraries, the Canadian Government Publishing Centre, the
Book and Periodical Development Council, the National Library
of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, the Canada
Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, Statistics
Canada, CANARIE, the Edmonton Freenet, TELUS, HPC Inc., the
Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries and WurcNet (now
NETERA Alliance), and PeopleSoft. In addition, he has been
involved in numerous arts and cultural organizations.
He has published frequently, including over
thirty articles or contributions, and four major monographic
compilations, including his seminal reference tool the Bibliography
of Canadian Bibliographies/Bibliographie des bibliographies
canadiennes (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1994). Two thousand and three saw the highly anticipated publication of the expanded and revised Peel's Bibliography of the Canadian Prairies to 1953, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press), a monograph Ernie co-edited and compiled. He is a requested speaker having given over 115 papers
or presentations.
A key contribution to the Canadian library community
was his founding of the Northern
Exposure to Leadership Institute, now acclaimed worldwide
as a landmark contribution to librarianship, and professional
development.
He has been the recipient of numerous awards,
including the Ruth Cameron Medal for Librarianship, the Marie
Tremaine Medal for Bibliography, the Canadian Association
of College and University Libraries Award for Outstanding
Librarian, the Innovation Achievement Award from the Canadian
Association of College and University Libraries, the Presidents
Award for Outstanding Service from the Library Association
of Alberta, and Outstanding Alumni award from the University
of British Columbia, School of Library, Archival and Information
Science, Innovator of the Year, and Hall of Fame Inductee
award sponsored jointly by Canadian Business, the Royal Bank,
the Canadian Information Processing Society and the Information
Technology Association of Canada, and the Outstanding Service
to Librarianship Award from the Canadian Library Association.
He is also an Honorary Life Member of The Alberta Library.
In 2001 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Canada, and in 2003 was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal.
Under his leadership the University of Alberta
has been honoured with five awards from the Canadian Association
of University Business Officers: 1993 Quality and Productivity
Award – Book and Record Depository; 1995 Quality and Productivity
Award – Technical Services Outsourcing; 1996-97 Western Regional
Award – The Digital Library; and 2000 Quality and productivity
Award – University of Alberta/TELUS Alliance; 2001 Quality
and Productivity Award – Quality Color on Campus. In addition,
his awards include the Canadian Information Productivity Award,
the GIGA Gold Award for Excellence in the Application of Information
Technology, and the Canadian Library Association/Information
Today Award for Innovative Use and Application of Technology.
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