We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2020 Jason Farradane Award is Tom Wilson (Professor Emeritus, University of Sheffield, UK). The prestigious award is given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the library and information profession. Professor David Allen, Professor of Information Management at Leeds University Business School, nominated Professor Wilson, supported by Professor Blaise Cronin (Rudy Professor Emeritus of Information Science at Indiana University), Professor Hazel Hall (Professor of Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University), Dr Anoush Simon (Head of Department, Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University), David Streatfield (Principle, Information Management Associates), and Professor Charles Oppenheim (Visiting Professor, Robert Gordon University).

The judges were impressed that his research fulfilled three of the criteria for the award:

• Contributing to the creation, promotion and exploitation of digital resources and service
• Demonstrating excellence in library and information science education and teaching
• Making a significant contribution to the theory and practice of library and information science.

Professor Allen comments: 'Our primary reason for nominating Professor Tom Wilson is his pioneering work in open access through the foundation and editing of Information Research: an international electronic journal. When the journal was established in 1995, it was one of the earliest electronic journals to be created. It was originally intended as a channel for promoting research within what was then the Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University, but was developed into a peer-reviewed journal from 1994 onwards. Professor Wilson acted as publisher until 2017, when that responsibility was assumed by the University of Borås in Sweden, with Professor Wilson as Editor-in-Chief throughout the period. As Editor, Web designer, and HTML coder, he has, singlehandedly, built the journal into one of the foremost journals in the field of information science.