In the summer, the Librarian at the Bodleian, Dr Sarah Thomas, leaves Oxford for Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be vice-president of Harvard University Library – a new position with overall responsibility for the institution. Sarah takes on responsibilities which include those held by Mary Lee Kennedy, formerly senior associate provost for the Harvard Library, who moved in May to become Chief Library Officer at the New York Public Library. Sarah, who had been University Librarian at Cornell, has been Bodley's Librarian for the past six years, during which time she has seen the completion of the new £29m book storage facility at Swindon involving the transfer of some 9 million books, journals, maps and other archival materials, and the £80m transformation of the New Bodleian into the Weston Library, due to be completed next year. From the beginning of August, Sarah's deputy, Richard Ovenden, will be acting as the interim Bodley's Librarian pending a permanent appointment.

Dr Barbara Tillett, who has published in Insights and whose recent retirement as Chief of the Policy and Standards Division of the Library of Congress was included in the previous issue, has been awarded the prestigious ALA ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services) Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award for 2013. Barbara was closely involved in the development of the Anglo American Cataloging Rules and has been instrumental in developing the conceptual model for FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records), which is a building block for the new international cataloguing code, RDA (Resource Description and Access). In addition, ALCTS' Acquisitions Section has selected Insights Editorial Board Member, Rick Anderson – a frequent UKSG conference speaker and a former NASIG president – to receive the 2013 Harrassowitz Leadership in Library Acquisitions Award. Rick is interim Dean and University Librarian at the University of Utah's Marriott Library. Both Barbara and Rick will receive their awards at a ceremony at ALA in Chicago at the end of June.

Rowland Thomas took early retirement in June after 21 years as Marshall Librarian for the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cambridge. Rowland's career in libraries began in Cambridge at the Central Science Library (then the Scientific Periodicals Library) in 1974. He recalls a shipment of journals arriving seven years late – the excuse (a good one) being that the ship had been held up in the Suez Canal following the 1967 war. The Marshall Library was an early adopter of technology including automated issues, and one of the first faculty libraries to have decent web page and, more recently, developed (CLA-compliant) online access to scanned text book chapters for library members. Rowland's first retirement target is to reach Grade 8 on the double bass, which he took up a few years ago.

At the University of Cardiff Library, Jeanette Bufton was promoted to the post of Assistant Acquisitions Librarian following Alison Palmer's retirement at the end of February. Alison had been with the library for 21 years and retired as Acquisitions Librarian – Collection Management Services.

In January, Collette McKenna took up the post of Director of Library Services at University College Cork. Collette joined UCC from the University of Ulster where, most recently, she was Head of Library Services, University Librarian.

Damyanti Patel joined JISC Collections at the end of January as a Data Manager on the KB+ project, the shared service providing a knowledge base of accurate and up-to-date resource management information working in collaboration with publishers and institutions to minimize duplication of time and effort (http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/KnowledgeBasePlus/). Damyanti previously worked at Birmingham City University Library and Learning Resources as the eLibrary Manager.

Chris Banks has been appointed Director of Library Services at Imperial College London and will take up her new post in September. Chris has been University Librarian and Director, Library Special Collections and Museums at the University of Aberdeen since October 2007, during which time the University has undertaken the creation of a new £57 million Library and Special Collections Centre, the first phase of which was opened in 2011. The University Library has been shortlisted in this year's ‘Outstanding Library Team’ category in the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards.

In the Collections Team at Kingston University's Information Services department, Ellie Hunt is now Information Advisor within Journals & E-resources. Ellie, who was previously in Customer Services at Kingston, replaces Helen Timpson who moved last November to the Ministry of Justice as Acquisitions Librarian.

All who knew Audrey Meenan will have been greatly saddened by news of her death from illness on 15 April, aged 64. Audrey retired from the Natural History Museum as Acquisitions Librarian in summer 2008 after 34 years in the Library, which she had joined as Serials Librarian in 1974. Audrey was deeply kind, and passionate about the theatre, literature, all kinds of music, rugby and Manchester United. Truly great fun to be with, Audrey loved life and was concerned to cheer up her friends – themes reflected in the songs she chose for her funeral: O flower of Scotland, Dancing Queen and Always look on the bright side of life.

At Royal Holloway, University of London library, Irene Bittles (pictured) was appointed Head of Technical Services in March. Irene, who had been a member of the subject liaison team at Royal Holloway since 2005, replaced Dominic Tate, who has joined Edinburgh University Library as Scholarly Communications Manager. The previous Head of Technical Services at Royal Holloway, Anna Grigson, is now Head of Collection Services Group at London School of Economics.

Laura Wong joined the library at Royal Holloway, University of London as Journals and Subscriptions Co-ordinator last August, moving from St George's, University of London, where she was Journals & E-resources Librarian.

In January, Aileen Cook (pictured) joined the University of St Andrews as Head of Acquisitions. Aileen was previously Acquisitions Team Leader at the Wellcome Library in London. She replaced Aileen McDonald, who had taken early retirement after 21 years with the Library.

At the beginning of May, Lorna McNally joined the University of Strathclyde as Faculty Librarian working with the Strathclyde Business School to provide support and deliver information skills and literacy to MBA and Premium Masters students. For the past seven years, Lorna was a librarian at Glasgow Caledonian University with roles in Electronic Resources and Academic Liaison.

After eight very enjoyable and busy years at Plymouth University, latterly as Content Development and Support Manager, Fiona Greig moved to the post of Head of E-Strategy and Resources at the University of Surrey in June.

At the University of Ulster, Janet Peden took up the post of University Librarian at the beginning of April, after six months as Head of Customer Focus and Business Support at the University. Prior to that, Janet had been Subject Librarian for Life and Health Sciences at Ulster.

At the beginning of June, Melanie Grant joined the Wellcome Trust Library as Acquisition Services Manager, replacing Aileen Cook, who moved last December to the University of St Andrews. For the previous 12 months, Melanie was at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she was Assistant Librarian (Serials). Prior to this, Melanie was the Serials Librarian at Tate Library and Archive.

On the trade side of the scholarly publications community, there have been a number of changes reported in UKSG e-News in recent months.

BioMed Central announced in April that Caroline Black is to join as Senior Publisher, a newly created role in which Caroline is responsible for the leadership, strategic direction, management and growth of a portfolio of BioMed Central's key products. Caroline is moving from her position as Managing Director of Portland Press Limited and Group Head of Publishing for the Biochemical Society.

At the end of May, Paul Harwood took up a new role as General Manager of EBSCO's UK and Nordic operations. Paul has been active on various committees and professional interest groups, including a long association with UKSG, where he was Chair between 2006–2008. Most recently, he was Deputy CEO of JISC Collections, and prior to that he co-founded the licensing company, Content Complete Limited, acquired by Jisc at the end of 2009.

EBSCO announced the appointment at the end of April of Luc Prudhon as EBSCO General Manager in France. Luc has over 20 years' experience in the information industry, and managed EBSCO France between 2003 and 2009. Prior to that, most of his career was spent in the information industry, with Dawson France, RoweCom and EBSCO, where he held several roles in top management and finance.

In May, Koby Rosenthal, a manager in the high-tech industry, took on running the Ex Libris Group's European operations and serves as a corporate vice president.

In March, Colin Meddings joined the DataSalon team as Client Director, overseeing the company's relationships with clients and the wider scholarly publishing industry. Colin has many years' experience in academic publishing, having worked for OUP and also on the UKSG Committee.

At IOP Publishing, Beth Mayes has been appointed as Partner Development Manager, North America. Beth is based in Boston and focuses on developing relationships with organizations in North America. Beth has over ten years' publishing industry experience and co-founded Dublin Six, a consultancy specializing in providing technical services and products to electronic publishers and digital libraries. Prior to that, Beth was Director of Development, eProduct Development & Innovation for Springer Science+Business Media.

Steven Nielsen has joined Innovative as Vice President of Strategic Accounts. Steven, who has been a library director, was most recently VP of Product Management at Polaris Library Systems and before that was with SirsiDynix.

Maverick Publishing Specialists has announced a number of appointments over the last few months. At the end of May, Anthony Finn joined the group as a Senior Associate. Anthony has worked as operations director of Quarto and Berlitz Publishing and was a founder director of Management Books 2000 before becoming group customer services manager for Taylor & Francis journals division.

Janice Kuta has also joined Maverick, as an Affiliate Associate. With a track record in sales, marketing, strategic planning, change management and new business development, Janice is also an independent consultant acting as Director of Membership for the International Association of STM Publishers and has previously held Executive and Senior Vice President positions at Classical International, Macmillan Online Publishing, Palgrave Macmillan, AIP Press and Blackwell Publishers.

In April, Sarah Boucher became an Associate in the EMEA-based Business Development team, with responsibility for supporting and expanding Maverick's clients across Europe and the Middle East. Sarah has over ten years' experience of international business development and publisher/partner relations in the print and electronic arenas.

Guy Plowman too has joined Maverick as Associate, Commercial Sales, and is responsible for helping clients develop revenue from avenues other than content sales, such as advertising and sponsorship. Guy has more than 19 years' sales experience and has worked with publishers including Elsevier, Publishing Technology, CABI, OECD, UNESCO, Wiley, Osprey and Oxford University Press.

At PLOS, Elizabeth Marincola has been appointed CEO, to take up her post in August. Elizabeth, who served on the Board of PLOS from 2005-2011, has been President and CEO of Society for Science & the Public (SSP) for the past eight years. Prior to that, Elizabeth was the Executive Director of The American Society for Cell Biology.

At OCLC, Skip Prichard is due to become President and CEO at the beginning of July, succeeding Jay Jordan, who is retiring after 15 years. Skip most recently served as President and CEO of Ingram Content Group, and was previously President and CEO of ProQuest Information and Learning.

Tiffany Williamson was appointed Vice President of Operations for Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience at ProQuest in March, joining the company from LexisNexis, where she was general manager of a workflow solutions business.

At the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) Board, Mark Bide was appointed chair in April with effect from the beginning of June. Mark was PLS' Head of Business Development, and has served as a consultant to the society for over 15 years. Outgoing chair, Mark Millar, stepped down at the end of his term, having served on the PLS Board for the last five years, and as chair for the last three. He has taken up a new role outside publishing.

In May, Michael Cairns was appointed COO Online Solutions Division and member of the executive team at Publishing Technology where he is responsible for the online business unit, including product development, implementation and client management for the ingentaconnect portal and associated product lines. Michael previously worked for Information Media Partners, MyWire.com, Wolters Kluwer Heath Education and Bowker, and has also served as a board member of the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group and Chairman of the International ISBN Executive Committee.

It was a real shock to hear that Dulcie Watanabe had died suddenly in her sleep in February. Dulcie was born in Oxford in 1971. Her father is Japanese and her mother a Briton whom he met in Copenhagen, and they moved to Oxford to bring up their family. Dulcie went to school at Cherwell, where she was a strong student in all subjects. She did an art foundation course at Oxford Brookes, achieving a distinction. Dulcie then went to Liverpool College of Art to study Fine Art in 1990 (which became part of John Moores University in her final year). She was a distinguished student and her final show is still remembered for its originality, technical skill and humour. Dulcie's partner, John, met her as a student and when they finished studying they travelled to South America, returning to live in Manchester. Dulcie did a wide range of temping jobs and even appeared fleetingly in an episode of ‘Cracker’ where she passes Robbie Coltrane in the casino in Chinatown. Dulcie and John moved to Oxford in 1995, where Dulcie completed an Arts Management Masters at Oxford Brookes, whilst working at the Museum of Modern Art Oxford. She loved to travel and meet people, so her job in journals suited this. She was well known and extremely popular in the publishing world. Dulcie began her career in scholarly publishing in 1996 at Blackwell's Information Services before moving to OUP as Head of Library Sales. After nearly six years, Dulcie moved on, by way of the University of Chicago Press and Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, to become Regional Sales Manager, EMEA at the Royal Society of Medicine Press in May last year. Dulcie was also very musical – she loved David Bowie, The Fall and The Smiths but also classical music and had recently taken up classical guitar again. Dulcie is always spoken of with affection and warmth, which has been reflected in the sense of shock and desolation felt by those who knew her, not least members of the Insights Editorial Board who remember her help in sourcing interesting content for this journal.

SAGE has announced a number of appointments. David Ross is now Executive Publisher of Open Access, in which role he assumes global responsibility for the strategic direction of OA in SAGE's journals programme and will oversee a team managing SAGE's open access journals – developing systems, process and policies to support OA publishing. David managed SAGE's initial venture into OA publishing, a partnership with Hindawi, and was a founding board member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).

Also at SAGE, Todd Baldwin, who joined the company in 2010, is now Executive Director, Online Library and Reference Publishing within the US and has management responsibility for the SAGE US reference programme, integrating the traditional reference publishing programme with SAGE's online library product development into a fully aligned publishing team.

Martha Sedgwick has been promoted to the role of Executive Director of Product Innovation within the UK at SAGE. In her five years with the company, Martha has experience in developing and launching SAGE's online digital products and content delivery platforms for the library market.

At Semantico, Terry Hulbert is the new Director of Business Development focusing on growth and further strengthening the company's role in the scholarly publishing community. Terry has spent the last five years leading business development at AIP and before that was Head of eBusiness Development and Strategy at IOP.

After 13 years, Debbie Dore left Swets at the end of May. Debbie joined the company in 2000 as UK HR/Change Manager to manage all aspects of the merger with Blackwell Information Services. Job well done, Debbie moved by way of positions as Sales and Marketing Manager and then Managing Director UK & Ireland to become Swets' Chief Commercial Officer in 2008, from which post she leaves having contributed hugely to the company's success. Debbie will be looking for something that provides a different work/life balance.

In April, Diane Thomas joined Thomson Reuters as Regional Sales Manager within the Scientific and Scholarly Research division, returning to the industry after a career break. Previously, Diane was Sales Director for EMEA at Cengage Learning, where she worked for eight and a half years.

This article has been amended to remove one of the original entries following a request from the person featured. The Editors, August 13th 2015