Ottawa, October 2, 2018 – The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) is pleased to announce Benoit Séguin as the recipient of the 2018 Ron MacDonald Distinguished Service Award. The award will be presented on October 17, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of CRKN’s annual general meeting.
A respected leader and collaborator, Mr. Séguin has dedicated his career to increasing access to scholarly content for Canadian researchers. Over the span of his 34-year career, he has taken an active role in both provincial and national initiatives aimed at advancing access to research and enhancing Canada’s research infrastructure.
Mr. Séguin will be retiring in a few months from his role of University Librarian at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, a position he has held for nine years. Throughout his career, he has generously volunteered his time and expertise leading and contributing to national and provincial groups, projects, and collaborations, most notably with CRKN and the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI).
Over the years, Mr. Séguin made significant contributions to CRKN, particularly from 2009 to 2013 as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Séguin was also a member of CRKN’s Content Strategy Committee (CSC) from 2011 to 2016. During this time, the CSC greatly benefited from Mr. Séguin’s leadership and negotiation expertise in outlining fair negotiation principles. When the budgetary environment of Quebec universities became particularly challenging, Mr. Séguin was instrumental in communicating these challenges to the CSC, allowing the committee to establish terms that met the needs of all CRKN members. Mr. Séguin encouraged collaboration between CRKN and BCI, a relationship that has remained critical to the success of university libraries throughout Canada.
In addition to his contribution to CRKN, Mr. Séguin was actively engaged, both nationally and provincially, on issues of library leadership and innovation. He was active on the library sub-committee of BCI, starting as a member in 2004 and acting as president from 2009 to 2010. Thanks to his leadership, Mr. Séguin made significant contributions to a number of working groups.
Within the library network of the Université du Québec (UQ), Mr. Séguin coordinated the implementation of a new integrated library management system which merged the library catalogues of the nine participating institutions. This project allowed for the UQ network to benefit from economies of scale, making it possible to acquire state-of-the-art tools. The project also fostered a culture of collaboration between the libraries of the participating institutions. This sharing of resources and expertise led to the evolution of an improved and adapted service structure that supports teaching and research. In 2008, he won the Prix d'excellence en gestion – volet réalisation from the Université du Québec. In 2011 Mr. Séguin, along with his colleagues from the UQ library network, was awarded the Quality and Productivity Award – Quebec Regional Winner from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers for this project.
Since 2015, Mr. Séguin has been the Chair of the BCI Shared Service Platform Project Steering Committee. This ongoing partnership project will significantly enhance the provision of library services to the Quebec university community through efficiencies, optimization of resources and the sharing of processes among the 17 participating university libraries.
In 2017, Mr. Séguin was awarded the Prix d'excellence en gestion – volet carrier from the Université du Québec. This prize further highlights his role as an innovative leader, with a collaborative spirit, as well as his contributions to the management and optimization of resources in the university sector.
His natural ability to create partnerships and liaise with different organizations has established connections that continue to flourish today; all with the goal of advancing research infrastructure in Canada. Mr. Séguin has been described as both a mentor and leader by his CRKN colleagues, helping CRKN become a stronger organization.
On behalf of the CRKN Board of Directors, we congratulate Benoit Séguin on his many achievements and his dedication to scholarly communication in Canada.
About the Award
The Ron MacDonald Distinguished Service Award was introduced by CRKN in September 2008 to honour the late Ron MacDonald who was a member of CRKN’s Negotiations Resource Team from February 2000 to July 2007 and who played a key role in establishing CRKN’s collaborative programs and services.
For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Ross
Director, Marketing and Stakeholder Engagement
613.907.7027
rross@crkn.ca