Unsung Hero/ine Nominees
Awarded to the person who continually and effectively fulfills his/her obligations to the mission of the libraries and who is commonly not recognized as doing so or has his/her recognition skipped over for colleagues in more public or glamorous positions. This person is continuously both a real benefit to his/her colleagues and a stable and dependable resource for the UGA Libraries as a whole.
Access Services
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Doug is a Library Assistant III and the Evening Supervisor. He works the Circulation and Reserves Desks, assists in the Circulation Office, and supervises the work of circulation desk student assistants in the afternoons and weekends.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
Doug was hired as a LAII in Access Services 9/2003 and was promoted to LAIII in the summer of 2004.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Doug works tirelessly and I have never ever heard him complain about anything. Working evenings and weekends he is often THE deciding voice in regards to circulation issues. He is always polite. I have never seen him get rattled even by some pretty offensive patrons. He keeps his even temperament and provides superior customer service. Patrons know that he is doing his best to assist them in every way possible.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
It would be a little less pleasant. Not to get too cliche but Doug is like a breath of fresh air. He presents a sincere, positive, caring demeanor that I think both his colleagues and the public would miss if he wasn't here.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
Doug could be the poster-boy for the public face of the UGA Libraries. He is helpful. He is polite. He is professional and takes his job seriously. He provides the public with a great sense that we are here to serve their academic needs and that we actually care to see them succeed in their endeavors. Even when he can't do what the patron wants, he can find a way to reach a compromise or understanding. He also works incredibly well with every one of his colleagues and the student assistants. Simply put everyone likes Doug. And that makes the workplace that much more enjoyable and productive.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Doug possesses all of the qualities that make a wonderful employee. His integrity, sense of responsibility, humility, sincerity, flexibility, and a genuine concern for others to name a few. Even down to punctuality - Doug has never been late to work EVER - how many people can say that?
Systems and Database Support
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Phil is the systems admin for all the servers that run GALILEO, GIL, DLG and many, many more. He is responsible for keeping these servers up, patched and virus free. He is also responsible for specing out any new servers that need to be bought. Phil is playing an integral part in the server room at the SL
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
He was here before I got here in 2000... I have no idea.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Our servers are never down, except for scheduled downtimes (which are rare) and unexpected power loss, which no one can predict (that would be another award category). He keeps all the behind the scenes programs and modules up to date so that as a programmer I don't have to worry about the details.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
The GALILEO/GIL/DLG servers would not be as stable as they are now. Phil's job is unseen when everything is going well, which means he is doing his job! If he was not so diligent and up to speed, then as developers and users, we would have many more problems with our work.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
Phil is an unsung hero. When all the machines are working and all the servers are up, then no one notices him. If Phil didn't take the good care of the machines as he does, we would have unhappy clients, unhappy users, and very disturbed developers.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Phil is always on call.... when the AC goes out in the machine room on a Sunday afternoon, Phil comes in to cool things down. Whenever we ask Phil to do something for us, her performs his admin duties quickly and without too many comments.
Cataloging
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Kelly is a monographs original cataloger in the Cataloging Dept. Before her current position in Cataloging, she worked in Government Documents. Much of the work she did there was with Georgia State Documents. When she came to the Cataloging Dept., she continued to catalog state document serials for 5 hours each week. When Ga Doc serials cataloging was moved to Serials Cataloging, she thought that maybe.....just maybe...she was done with state docs. The truth is, she can't escape them. I'm nominating Kelly because she is truly an unsung heroine for her work with Georgia State Documents.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
Since 1996. She came to her current position in early 2003.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Kelly trained us (Serials Cataloging) on procedures related to cataloging Ga state documents. This material has many non-standard procedures associated with it, and things to remember that are different than what we do with "regular" serials. She was patient with us, and with questions (and venting).
Recently she's been called upon again to coordinate the broader workflow of state documents. She's come up with procedures and attended workflow meetings. She is able to diplomatically work with all the various personalities involved--within and outside of the libraries--including us uppity serials cataloging women.
I believe that now her work will permantly involve several hours each week of Georgia Docs coordination.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
Without Kelly....I'm not sure Ga State Doc serials would be cataloged at all, if she hadn't been doing them herself. When we took them over, if she hadn't trained us, we would've made our own way, totally ignorant of procedures which had been in place for years, and ignorant of the etiquette of interacting with various folks involved in this effort (I'm still not very good at it--Kelly is, though)
I think with her coordinating the effort, materials will move more smoothly than they have in the past. Details which fell through the cracks when Kelly stopped cataloging would never be picked back up. In short, it would be a mess.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
Within the libraries, people have good access to Georgia State Documents through GIL. Also, our cataloging of Ga Doc serials is part of an agreement where UGA catalogs the serials and Guy Frost in Valdosta catalogs the Ga Doc monographs. So Kelly's work has an impact throughout the state of Georgia.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Just that in general, she works really, really hard.
Systems
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Marty works with Cataloging Department to massage the data in GIL and to oversee the administrative-side of maintaing staff access to Voyager.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Marty's indepth knowledge of both Cataloging standards and Voyager capabilities make her a real asset. She moves fluently between MARC-speak and GIL-ese to help me and others generate the best possible reports and find the best solutions to system limitations.
In all my interactions with her, she has been a willing and patient sounding board. She offers excellent suggestions and is always approachable. I've always been made to feel as if she had given my requests special attention--even though I know it was just one of a dozen things she was juggling at any given time.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
MARC is its own special language. Having worked at other libraries, I know it is not the norm to have the luxury of a cataloger in Systems. Marty can see things that I've missed and make useful suggestions because she knows the code as well as I do. I save so much time when I work with Marty, and the product of our collaboration has always been better than what I initially expected I could get from GIL.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
She provides timely report generation from Voyager so that we can work efficiently.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Marty has such an laid-back style and is so easy-going that I think it is easy for folks to miss how hard she works. For me, she represents what an unsung heroine is. She works diligently, she works smart, and she works behind the scenes.
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Mr. Langford works as a Library Technical
Assistant, and has as his chief responsibility (as best I
understand it) the receipt and processing of gift collections
to UGA Libraries.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
He has been at the Libraries since about 1986.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
There are many small tasks that Will sees to
that would otherwise languish, including the book sale cart,
his timely assistance with a myriad of LSA functions, and his
ready willingness to assist in field recovery of collections
donated to the Hargrett Special Collections Library.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
We would be a poorer place without Mr.
Langford's quiet, steady presence as a man one can always
count on when a need arises and when an extra shoulder is
necessary to move us forward.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
Will is the calm, competent, reassuring public
face for UGA Libraries in all of his interactions with both
colleagues and clients as he moves through an average
workday. His support of our outreach missions and our
interactions with the larger University community and beyond
literally puts forward the very best face of the University
Libraries.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
There are dozens of small day-to-day tasks that
get done because Will is there to do them without fanfare,
and which would clutter the days of many of us were he not
here to do so.....
Access Services
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Assistant Coordinator: Providing access and securing the UGA Libraries.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
One year and ten months.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Shawn has brought stability to his departmnet and provided assistance whenever necessary.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
Shawn provides a good balance of humor and work ethic that other wise would not be present.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
Without Shawn many of the small, unnoticed details that others take for granted would not be possible.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Shawn is a cornerstone of our department; he instills his work ethic into our entire staff.
Reference
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Patrick has dual responsibilities, he is a Reference Librarian with responsibilities for selection in French literature.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
Patrick joined the Libraries in October, 2000.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Patrick has an affinity for programming. Dan Murphy suggested he try Cold Fusion to make relational databases. One of his first projects was to redo the staff directory which Phil Fitzpatrick had maintained. The problem with Phil's database was that it could not be updated dynamically.
Patrick not only added this capability so that Becky Wortham could add people on the day they were hired, but Patrick improved the access points. Now you can search by the person's first or last name. This is extremely helpful to me since I often only know the first names of employees in other departments. Patrick has enabled people to search on a name alone or by a part of a name and the department. This combined with the ability to email someone right from the directory is a tremendous time-saver for me. No longer do I need to search my desk for the staff list. I can simply click on "Quick Links" on the homepage and go right to the information I need.
Next Patrick created a database for the Reference librarians and others who teach regularly. The database contains the teaching materials used by the instructor. This way the instructor can refer students back to the handouts if they lose the copy distributed in class. Other librarians can model their own handouts on one a colleague did. Web page design ideas are freely shared and improved upon through the use of the database.
Lastly Patrick created a database of EndNote filters and handouts for the many faculty and graduate students who use our databases to collect references and need a way to collect them in a way that is compatible with this bibliographic management tool. Virginia Benjamin requested that the database be created because she was spending too much time cutting and pasting handouts together for individuals. Now users can come to the database to download the specific filter they need along with any handouts that we help them utilize the citation management software.
Patrick's next project is to revise Tim Murray's "Once News" database of our Georgia newspaper holdings. The idea is to be able to update this database dynamically as new reels of microfilm are received.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
Patrick understands how interrelated much of our work is. Some of his databases can talk to each other. The class assignment database, for example, can link to the staff directory so that the user can get the phone number and e-mail address of the web page or handout creator. This makes the process very efficient. Also, the Reference Department is trying to minimize our reliance on Systems personnel since those programmers have many other tasks to complete. Being able to dynamically update databases means that they should always be current. There is no more waiting till the end of the month to enter all personnel records, for example. This means that everyone has accurate information practically instantly. This eliminates a lot of frustration.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
I believe I have addressed this. Giving our users and staff accurate and timely information contributes to our mission.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Patrick has a great sense of humor. For example, when he was asked to show one of his databases to DHG, he began by thanking the group for inviting him to their "conclave." The use of this term had been much in the news that week. He also loves puns. He often brightens our interdepartmental e-mail conversations with a clever aside.
Serials
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Serials reciever.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
Five years.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Sarah's unique disposition has reflected on our department like a dab of color on a white canvas.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
In addition to her work-related expertise and input, she has taken many initiatives to liven up the place both mentally & physically.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
I think of libraries as places at the conjunction of information and the transition thereof in real life, Sarah's presence embraces both aspects.
Access Services
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Merdelle is an LAII and she performes all the searches for the Access Services Department
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
Merdelle had her 40th anniversary this year - She should get an award for that in itself.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Merdelle is amazing. She has such an intimate knowledge of the stacks and a honed skill at finding items in the stacks. She knows where to look in all the permutations of a call number to locate an item that might be shelved incorrectly. She searches not only for the patrons but also our departmental units when they cannot locate items either (e.g. Reserves or GIL Express).
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
Merdelle works tirelessly to locate items that others cannot find. And she does it with grace, fierce determination and a wonderful attitude. She knows that she is performing a valuable service to the patrons and the Libraries and treats every search as an important mystery to be solved.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
Searching is one of the least glamorous jobs that is completely behind the scenes and certainly doesn't get a lot of recognition, but without that function many people would be dissatisfied with the accessiblity of items and frustrated with not being able to locate materials. This helps not only the patrons but also the Libraries ability to assess what might need to be reordered if the item is not located after an exhaustive search.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Merdelle is increadibly generous. She brings in treats for every holiday/birthday/special occassion and many other times just because she wants to share and make our days a little brighter. She has a personal interest in every member of our department and makes us all feel special.
Cataloging
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
Library Associate II at Serials Cataloging
Section. She deals with all formats of serials records, not
only creates records for new materials but also works on
several conversion projects.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
I don't really know, probably 13 or 14 years.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
She is very knowledgable about old cataloging
rules and our libraries old practices. Whenever I encounter
problems with pre-AACR2 records or find some unrecognizable
symbols on the records, she is the first person I'll consult
and get advice from; and she is always very happy to help
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
Since we are working on so many conversion
projects, her knowledge is very valuable to our section.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
She is also a very hard worker.
Digital Library of Georgia
What is the nominee's position and what is the nature of his/her job?
LA III.
How long has the employee been employed at the UGA Libraries?
not certain.
How has the nominee's hard work affected your unit and/or department, as well as the Libraries?
Mary clearly works hard, but I am not her supervisor. What I appreciate about her as a co-worker is the fact that she is extremely bright and competent, but also down-to-earth. She undoubtedly boosts the morale of her co-workers by bringing cookies to work, sharing small things like holiday tchotchkes, etc.
How would the work environment at the UGA Libraries be different without the nominee?
We'd all miss her! She certainly brightens the work environment.
Despite lack of recognition, what makes the nominee an integral part of the UGA Libraries' mission?
I think that Mary's soft-spokenness and modesty is certainly a plus, I would also say that she has a keen sense of the importance public service and outreach.
What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your
nominee?
Mary is extremely clever and funny.
