Ernie is currently Vice-Provost at the University of Alberta.  Within this context he has administrative oversight responsibility for the Library System, the Department of Museums and Collections, the Department of Archives and Records Management, the University of Alberta Press, the University Bookstore and University Printing Services.  In addition, he is an Executive Professor and Director of the School of Library and Information Studies at the University.

He has been an active player within the library and information technology communities, having served over one hundred professional associations in senior executive capacities.

He has published frequently including seminal reference tools such as the Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies/Bibliographie des bibliographies canadiennes (Toronto:  University of Toronto Press, 1994), and Peel’s Prairie Provinces (Toronto:  University of Toronto Press, 2003).  In addition, through his ‘8R Research Group’, he has published such studies as The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries and Training Gaps Analysis:  Librarians and Library Technicians.  He has published numerous articles and is a requested speaker having given over 160 papers or presentations.

He has been the recipient of numerous awards including (but not limited to) 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 Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award from the Canadian Library Association, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship, the Outstanding Alumni awards from the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta, and the Canadian Business and the Royal Bank Innovator of the Year Award.  In 2001 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.