First-Year Classified Staff Nominees

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Maryalice arrived at the Libraries, an innocent young Scottie and a newlywed. She immediately settled into the nervy milieu of the Russell Library, where bold ideas and audacious plans find a home.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Having discovered a love of archives, Maryalice has committed herself to her chosen profession, embracing a program to further her education and contribute even more than her pleasant smile, poised demeanor and good hair to the UGA Libraries. Her willingness to tackle anything from staffing Russell events to designing exhibits and helping to publicize them contribute to the sense of camaraderie that pervades the Russell Library.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Mazie has shown initiative in providing information the Libraries communications czarina so that Russell Library activities can be fittingly publicized.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

She's brightens her corner of the world, especially the one in the sub-basement.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Mazie has been a great asset to the Russell Library in her first year. She has been an excellent first point of contact for the Russell Library and has assumed her duties with great aplomb. Mazie has assumed a variety of duties and projects in the department that have demonstrated great enthusiasm and creativity. Her centerpiece accomplishment for the year was her dedicated and careful management of the logistics associated with planning and presenting of a major donor relations event, The Russell Intern Reunion. She worked closely with the Russell department head, the Head of the Russell Foundation, caterers, the reception venue reps. to make sure that a 2-day program of events came off without a hitch. She tracked down addresses for numerous invitees--no small task since the last contact with many of these individuals has been in the mid 1960s-- and fielded calls from guests seeking information about the event. The success of the event was certainly due in countless ways to Mazie's careful and unflagging attention to detail. Another important highlight from her year's work has been her good progress in a long term project o upgrade and standardize the appearance and content of the Russell Library's finding aids for its collections. For this project Mazie has conducted research on creator's of collections, researched the provenance of collections, and ferreted out discrepancies and gaps in existing records with relentless fervor.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Mazie's position has two key responsibilities--insure that patrons (both remote and in-person) receive effective and welcoming assistance and contribute to the department's commitment to improve access and expand outreach to current and future audiences. Mazie fulfills these responsibilities through her engaging and gracious interactions with visitors, through her careful attention to details, and her spirited creative problem solving. She has clearly advanced the mission of our department and more broadly, the library through her own work and her support of the work of her coworkers.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Mazie completes mundane tasks and more complex high-level projects with the same care and attention and good cheer. A born-problem solver she approaches each task or project as an opportunity to make a better mouse trap.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Mazie is endlessly curious and interested in the "hows" and "whys" of things and she uses this store of knowledge to improve her efficiency and effectiveness and to suggest ideas that will allow the Russell as a whole to continue to grow and prosper.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Todd is always pleasant at the circulation desk. He always smiles and is friendly to patrons. He works so very hard for so little compensation, and his promotion was most definitely deserved. Just surviving this year and coming through it with a smile is such an accomplishment. We've really been blessed to have him here. How could we thank him enough? It wouldn't be possible, but an asset award might help.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

As our mission is public service, Todd's aforementioned skills in customer relations greatly enhance our ability to accomplish our goals with patrons. His attitude has certainly lifted morale in our department, and even on the cloudiest day, he's just a regular ray of sunshine.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Todd is a true leader...words are not enough. As a new supervisor, he has bravely shouldered extra responsibilities and has done his best to lead our student assistants and LAII's on to greatness. Whether passing out slices of cake to staff on Fridays, or standing on the front portico, lifting his fists in the air as the crowd bellows chants his name like the Peronistas in Argentina, people in our department look to Todd for wisdom and guidance.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Todd makes a damn fine cake, and if he wins, there's a slight possibility that one might just show up at your office. Not being Todd (I'm just using his computer and e-mail address right now to hide my identity, so that I won't be embarrassed should he discover my almost excessive admiration of him), I can't promise that, but if I was Todd, I might would consider it.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Todd started in Access Services as a Library Assistant II and was promoted to a Library Assistant III within the year. Todd's positive attitude and sense of humor make him easily approachable. It is a joy to work with Todd. And patrons love him too!! Todd's quick wit and ever-present smile soothe even the most savage patron.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

During a year which saw tumultuous times in the department, Todd was a rock. Access Services experienced heavy turnover during which time Todd was a constant. Without his help, the department would have had a much more difficult time weathering the storm. Even when the department was at its most shorthanded, Todd was always courteous and quick to handle any problems that arose. His attitude is a model for other library employees to emulate.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Todd's leadership skills are legendary. Although he is new to his LA III position, he has already established himself as someone who will take the initiative. He handles situations calmly and fairly, using discretion to prioritize. The student assistants appreciate Todd's unique supervisory style and his empathy since it was only last year that he was a student himself.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Todd is such a good cook that if there was a category for "Best Library Cook" he would win hands down. Access Services, and the Library as a whole, are very lucky to have Todd as a conduit between patrons and staff.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Elizabeth began her work in Acquisitions at the busiest time of the year for firm ordering. She was able to learn her job quickly and thoroughly; and without batting an eye, she adapted to numerous changes, small and large, in her workflow. Her ability to learn her job as quickly as she did and to deal with the modifications to the procedures as facilely as she has consistently amazes me. When work in our department slowed down this spring, Elizabeth volunteered to work in the Hargrett Library, where she assisted that department in processing manuscripts collections.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Elizabeth is responsible for processing the 20,000+ firm orders that come through the Acquisitions department every year. Without her processing those orders in GIL and maintaining them by claiming them from the vendors when that becomes necessary, the Libraries would be short quite a few books! Elizabeth also contacts book vendors to place orders and follow-up on them. The Libraries have dealt with some of these vendors for years, and we add new ones every week. Elizabeth's friendly professionalism is vital in both establishing and maintaining good relationships with these companies.

I'd also like the committee to be aware of just how great Elizabeth is. She arrives at work every day ready to do the job at hand, and never seems daunted by the sometimes huge order queues. She's friendly, she's funny, and she's invaluable to the Ordering Unit.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

In her short time here, Anne Marie has quickly learned many of the intricacies of metadata and digital projects, and as a result has been invaluable. The Metadata unit is responsible not only for developing metadata for the DLG's projects, but in many cases, both manages projects and develops supplementary essays and other tools. Anne Marie has created metadata for a variety of projects including the Historic Architecture and Landscapes of Georgia, R.E. Williams photographs, and the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Family Papers. She is to be particularly commended for her work with the Historic Architecture and Landscapes of Georgia database. Because of the lack of data available on the images, she must perform extensive and often time-consuming research. Additionally, Anne Marie has both edited supplemental materials and has also authored them. Because of her academic background in linguistics and English literature, I asked her to edit the definitions of art terms found in our Arts of the United States database so that we could present a glossary for use with the site. She tackled the very difficult task with great ease and has created a product that will be of great use to the DLG’s users. She also wrote biographies of John Linley and Hubert Owens and a timeline for our historic architecture project. With her assistance, the Metadata unit has been able to complete a vast amount of work and been able to meet our production goals.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

As part of the DLG, Anne Marie works to make archival and Special Collections materials available online. Through her exacting and high-quality work on our grant-funded and collaborative projects, she has helped the excellent reputation of both DLG and the University Library continue to grow.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

During her short tenure in DLG, Anne Marie has successfully managed five student assistants and a volunteer. She is a patient trainer, clearly conveys unit expectations to our student staff, assigns work suitable to each student’s abilities, and has created a friendly yet production-oriented work environment. I am particularly impressed with her skills at dealing with difficult supervisory situations such as terminating a student assistant. More recently, Anne Marie has begun to develop training materials for students and has attended a two-day Project Management workshop in order to streamline the management of our many projects.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

In addition to being an extremely diligent and efficient worker, Anne Marie seeks to deepen her knowledge of the digital library world. During mid-June, Anne Marie will be attending the Georgia Archives Institute in order to deepen her knowledge of the issues involved in working with archival materials and how these challenges effect our work in the Digital Library. Also, she has attended a NINCH Copyright Town Meeting and taken Dreamweaver and PhotoShop classes through Training and Development.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Nikki has been a important asset to the new Access and Outreach Unit of the Russell Library. She has brought her considerable technical skills, artistic talents, as well as her dedication to excellence and her quiet good cheer to the job and we are all the better for it here in Russell. Although Nikki has only been with the library since November 2002 she has accomplished much in during her tenure here. Her major accomplishments in the past year include creation of an online version of the Russell Library's baseball exhibit as well as significant research and design and writing for the upcoming "History Lives in the Russell Library Exhibit." Both of these projects have required a great deal of independence, problem solving, and technical expertise and Nikki has accomplished them with great facility and enthusiasm.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Nikki has been an integral part of the Russell Library's expanded efforts to improve access and outreach to its current and potential users. She has expanded and enriched content of the Russell Library's web page, one of its most important and growing conduits for communicating with online patrons and stakeholders. She has expanded her existing prodigious technical expertise by seeking additional training, most notably in digitizing analog material for web use. Nikki has also proved to be an able and effective representative of the Russell Library with donors and patrons. She is particularly good with the one-on-one interactions that are so important for building positive and effective relationships with donors and patrons.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Nikki has amply demonstrated in her time at the Russell her ability to be both an effective team player and an independent source of innovation and creativity. Although rarely the loudest voice at a meeting hers is often one of the most reasoned and effective. She has contributed ideas to a major planning process underway in the Russell Library and has approached the management of the Russell web page, her chief domain, with vision and style. In recent months Nikki has carried out the majority of the research and design for a major new exhibit of highlights from the Russell collections and has soaked up the Russell's best practices and approaches to research and exhibit prep like a super absorbent sponge!

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

I have yet to find a project that Nikki doesn't tackle with ease, good cheer, and dedication.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Nikki has done a phenomenal job in learning the basics of the job, and the Binding statistics prove that. Four months after Nikki started working in Binding, we had almost surpassed the previous year's statistics in half the time.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Nikki's work ethic has helped us to increase the amount of outgoing material out and provide expedient service to those who require our services (i.e. Government Documents processing, Music cataloging, Georgia Room, Reference, Serials technical processing, Collection Development, and Circulation).

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Nikki is very intelligent, and she has learned various parts of the job in a relatively short amount of time. She is now learning the advanced aspects of resolving problems associated with serials, such as title changes, frequency changes, publication changes, duplicate item records, She also works well with other department members and student workers. It is a pleasure to work with such a fine person.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Nikki Smith has excelled in the majority of the area she is responsible for. Her main binding responsibility has been the gathering and processing (including item record creation) of current periodicals for the weekly binding shipment. In addition, she has also responsible for processing paperbacks, serials, rebinds, and music scores for shipment to the commercial bindery. Since her arrival, Nikki has almost single-handedly kept the current periodical binding workflow current. In most cases she has either met or exceeded her monthly production goals. Within the past year, Nikki processed more than one thousand periodicals in a month twice!

Nikki assisted with the testing and implementation of the new web version of the ABLE binding software. Her input to both her supervisors and National Library Bindery Co. staff was essential in order for a smooth transition from one system to another to occur. Her learned familiarity with the new ABLE system has allowed her use the system to its fullest potential. An example of this is the working up of titles on the system and then saving batch printing of binding slips for a later time, which, while it sounds complicated, actually allows Nikki to perform other duties during the printing process, thus saving time in the long run.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Keeping binding current is important as it cuts down on potential damage and or loss of expensive Library materials. This is important to Serials Department staff, as it allows them to work on current material rather than having to spend time replacing things that we already have. The quicker an item is bound, the quicker it will be available to Library patrons as well. Nikki is a highly motivated individual who does her best to ensure that materials move quickly through the Main Binding Unit. Paperbacks are removed and processed from Marking shelves at least twice a day to ensure their timely departure to the commercial bindery each Tuesday. The same is true of serial issues and materials needing rebinding. Item records for each title are created/updated in a timely manner so that the status of "At Binding" is displayed to the public via GIL. Keeping material available to Library patrons is an extremely important part of the Libraries' mission as well.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Nikki leads by example and is always willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done. Her strong work ethic sets a good example for others to follow. While she has no direct leadership/supervisory responsibilities, she has successfully directed the work of the Main Binding Unit's student assistants during the absence of the Head, Main Binding.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Nikki has helped make the Main Binding Unit an extremely productive Unit. Due to her diligence we have not only been able to remain current with the binding of all Library materials, but have been able to take a more proactive approach to other areas of the binding workflow that we previously were unable to address.

What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?

Viki did an outstanding job streamlining security procedures and training. Her previous library experience allowed her to jump right in and organize the unit. She also made a tranistion into the Reserves unit, while still functioning as the Security Coordinator. She has done an outstanding job in both areas.

How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?

Because Viki is a natural leader and forward thinker she performs tasks thoroughly and with the end result in mind. She understands the necessity of communicating effectively with library patrons and staff and following through on patron inquiries. With this level of understanding, Viki facilitates our efforts to support the mission of the Libraries and the Access Services Department.

What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?

Viki took the lead in hiring, training, and supervising the entire Security Unit. In addition, she took on full responsibility for the units budget and for equipment inventory. She is now using her leadership skills in the Reserves Unit, hiring, training, and supervising staff for the desk and for reserves processing.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Viki has a great personality. She is very cooperative and dedicated to doing her best, at whatever she does. She is well liked in the department and throughout the library, and throughout the state. UGA is lucky to have such a gem of an employee.