First-Year Classified Staff Nominees
Awarded to a classified employee who has exhibited exceptional job performance, attitude, interpersonal working relationships, and great potential for future service to the Libraries. Nominees must have completed their six-month probationary period by June 1st, 2005. Employees who were hired between December 1, 2004 and November 30, 2005 are eligible for this award.
Brad Martin
Media
What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?
Brad has made a siginificant impact on Media. He works at the front desk at least 4 hours per day interacting and meeting with students and faculty who frequent the collection. He has stream-lined how Media keeps track of its collection in our off-line GIL environment by implementing a stringent time-line checking on materials each week. He curated a a Hip Hop film series that was well-attended in March. He improved the interior look of the Media area by hanging large images from the Peabody Awards Collection.How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?
Yes, I believe our mission is enhanced by Brad's frequent presence on the front desk. He is very familiar with the purchased collection as well as the archival collection that he solves problems quickly and easily refers reference questions to myself or other members of the department.What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?
Brad has grown tremendously and that is the most rewarding thing to see. He needed some mentoring to really understand his place in the Libraries and to grasp his full responsibilities as supervisor of the Media Desk. Since then, Brad has been a model employee and great Media Desk Supervisor. I look forward to continuing working with Brad.What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?
Brad is creative, extemely intelligent, and is a snappy dresser.Justin Petty
Music Library
What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?
Justin has proved to be quite a valuable addition to the both Preservation and the Music Library. In Preservation, Justin was a student assistant and was already trained on much of the work he was supposed to do. But he took on extra responsibilities by sharing this training with the new student assistants, teaching them and feilding their questions. At the Music Library, Justin has helped enormously with the transition to electronic check-out and reserves (the Music Library had heretofar operated manually). As in Preservation, he has taken it upon himself to assist in the training and management of student assistants in this transition.How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?
In the Preservation department, Justin's deligence and hard work has helped maintain a consistant workflow and his help with the student assistants has guaranteed an efficient department. At the Music Library, Justin's familiarity with the Voyager client has ensured that the transition to electonic record keeping was not nearly as awful and painful as it could have been.What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?
Just has taken it upon himself to both help manage the student assistants and make himself the de facto Voyager guru of the Music Library, both of these actions denote a willingness to take charge of a situation and make sure that the departments continue to run efficiently.What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?
Justin has an extremely sunny disposition, making him easy to work with.Joshua Seils Cataloging/Database Maintenance
What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?
Joshua has done so much to contribute to the Cataloging Department and the Libraries in such a short time. He serves as the DBM Science Liasion and has worked very hard to ensure that their materials are accurately reflected in GIL. He works closely with Jacquie Houston, Georgia, and other staff at the science Library. Joshua is always willing to "go the extra mile" to ensure that his work is accurate and makes frequent trips to the Science Library to verify information and check their stacks. Joshua knowledge base has grown tremendously in his first year and he is able to investigate and resolve many complex issues with minimal assistance, although he always makes sure to consult with others as needed. Additionally Joshua is patient, helpful and kind. While Joshua has many different mini-projects and reports that he works on, he is able to prioritize and ensure that nothing falls behind. Joshua asks insightful questions and gives very thoughtful feedback in terms of workflow and complex maintenance issues. He understands the importance of getting it right the first time and utilizes the technology to get it done quickly and accurately.How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?
Joshua is a true member of the Cataloging Department team and very much an integral part of the Maintenance Unit. Although bibliographic, holding, and item maintenance may not seem glamorous, it is an important part of ensuring that our patrons find what they need. Database Maintenance investigated and resolved almost 100,000 records last year, due to the dedication and work of the excellent staff in the Unit.What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?
It would be very easy to overlook Joshua's leadership skills because he is easygoing; however, Joshua sets a good example in that his work is accurate, completed in a timely manner, while maintaining a sense of the bigger picture; furthermore, he is always willing to help out in whatever way. Joshua's willingness to learn, good work habits and organizational skills are definitely an asset.What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?
As trite as it may sound, Joshua has remarkable potential. His ability to comprehend complex bibliographic, holding & item concepts continues to grow at an amazing rate.Leigh Ann Vey
Serials, Public Services Section/Digital Library of Georgia, Photographic Services
What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?
In the past six months of her employment in the Serials Department, Leigh Ann has really shown her stuff. What is normally a tedious and detailed period of training, she has turned into a period of accomplishment. She quickly mastered the routine and was soon tackling highly specialized projects, including microfilm surveys for acetate, investigations of holdings problems, and the updating of special guides pertaining to our collections.How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?
Leigh Ann splits her time between the Serials Department (Public Services Section) and the DLG (Photographic Services). So it is impressive that with only four hours per day she has accomplished so much in the Serials Department. She has an easy, approachable attitude, a sincere and conscientious approach to all she does, and an ability to juggle a variety of tasks. She treats the mundane task and the unusual project with equal importance and maintains extremely high standards of quality in her work. By becoming a powerful resource in the Section, she has enabled us to address needs and tasks that have long languished. She does this both in a direct way, by being involved in those tasks, and indirectly by clearing time and space for others to perform other tasks. As a result, patrons are better served and can find needed materials more easily than before, the microform collections are in better shape for future use, and preservation efforts are more focused.What leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?
Leigh Ann's example is one of a doer. By helping train students, and by working closely with her supervisor, she has shown a "can-do" attitude that demonstrates a positive approach to others. By routinely showing the flexibility to shift between assignments and between different units of the Library, her organizational skill becomes readily apparent; she is a fine example to all who work with her.What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?
Leigh Ann has only been here since November. During that time she has established effective and meaningful relationships with her coworkers and colleagues. She does her work mindful of the work of others, a skill not easily taught, and has other inate qualities (such as a strong work ethic, a sense that her work is important, and a healthy sense of humor) that she brings with her every single day. These personal qualities serve us well and will, I'm sure, lead her to even greater accomplishments.David "Constantine" Wright
Digital Library of Georgia/Georgia Newspaper Project
What, in your opinion, are the outstanding accomplishments of the nominee in the past year?
With tireless determination he dove into his new position, learned procedures for doing the many many task, and has gotten the project back on course in our prep dept.How has the work of the nominee affected the way the Libraries' carry out its mission? Your department?
We microfilm approximately 3 million pages of newsprint a year and Constantine has been instrumental in helping the project maintain its archival quality product, by tracking down problems and helping to create solutions and get back into the workflow in a timely manner. In the long run this helps to save the library money on labor and materialsWhat leadership skills has this person demonstrated in the past year?
He is dependable, honest and trustworthy. He has respect for and is respected by his co-workers and peers. Goes out of his way to be helpful and often does more that expected for his position. Enjoys training new students, and learning new skills to assist him in his job performance.What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?
Constantine has a BA and MA. He will apply for MLIS Aug.2006 This young man has a great attitude and with his positive outlook on life, there is no doubt in my mind he will become an outstanding librarian.