SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR:

This award recognizes a supervisor who exhibits that unique blend of human relations skills, knowledge of the organization and its mission, and skill in training and leading employees. Examples include:

NOMINEES:

Toby Graham

Toby Graham is without a doubt the best supervisor I have ever had. He routinely takes the time to familiarize himself with the all of the faculty and staff's various digital projects and is always willing to take the time to share his expertise on any number of subjects, which makes everyone's work easier. He is consistently in the best of moods which in turn puts everyone else in a good mood. He also manages to handle a wide array of responsibilities in both the DLG and Hargrett with ease. We need to get him some rocket shoes!

Kelly Holt

As Head of Monographs Original Cataloging, Kelly Holt should be considered for Supervisor of the Year because of her leadership and dedication to her employees, the Cataloging Department and the Libraries. With her knowledge of Monographs Original Cataloging (MOC) and the other areas of the Libraries, she can always tell her employees who to consult about problems outside of MOC. She is also knowledgeable about the flow of materials from the time of purchase, to cataloging, all the way to shelving, which often helps her supervisees locate needed materials that have not yet reached MOC or that have already gone through the area. Other Libraries colleagues also value Kelly's familiarity with the materials workflow and often consult her when looking for a book or video that has not yet been shelved.

In addition to her understanding of MOC and the Libraries, Kelly is very knowledgeable about the process of cataloging; no matter what rule or format she is working with, she either knows how to handle it or she will use her familiarity with the departmental workflow and such cataloging standards as the Anglo American Cataloging Rules and the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations to find the answer.

As a supervisor, Kelly also possesses superior communication skills. She frequently updates her employees on new materials that will be coming to the department and keeps us informed of the progress and status of any special projects on which we are working, such as the Curriculum Materials Library videos and the Hargrett Manuscripts. Additionally, Kelly is always kind and tactful in her communications with those she supervises. She often compliments us on work that we have done well, and she always delivers criticism and corrections in a gentle and constructive manner.

Kelly balances the goals of the Libraries with those of her employees by keeping us informed of the department's needs and communicating to us the benefits of our work for the entire organization. She also encourages the three of us to participate in committees such as LSA, University Council, the Professional Development and Research Committee, and the Committee on Nominations and Elections, to attend workshops and conferences, and to take classes so that we feel engaged with the larger library and professional communities. In this manner, we have become more well-rounded Libraries employees while simultaneously developing skills that we will need to advance in our careers.

Kelly is always ready to adapt to a new project with new processes and guidelines. Over the past year she has led MOC in cataloging projects as diverse as an Arabic gift collection, kits of student supplies from the Curriculum Materials Library, and the Hargrett manuscripts collection. In each case she has cheerfully accepted the new responsibilities and worked with individuals from the originating department to ensure that the process would be efficient and produce the desired results. Kelly encourages her supervised staff to be fully involved in these projects and is always equitable in her division of labor. She ensures that everyone is participating while still being willing to take on the most troublesome problems herself or to assist her staff in dealing with them.

As new catalogers, we constantly approach Kelly with problems and questions, not only about monographs but now also manuscripts. She uses her knowledge of Libraries and Cataloging department policies as well as national standards to clarify ambiguities and provide feasible solutions. She explains her solutions thoroughly, and her answers to any follow-up questions are always clear.

With three new librarians to supervise, Kelly has invested deeply in individual training over the past year. In addition to one-on-one training time, Kelly provided links to outside training resources and made sure each trainee knew which resources to use to find information on local policies and procedures. To ensure that the training was fully understood and properly implemented, Kelly performed revision on staff cataloging and addressed issues individually as they arose - a massive time commitment on top of her already busy schedule. Throughout this process, Kelly remained helpful and accessible, always ready to answer questions and offer encouragement.

Kelly gladly shares her knowledge of cataloging and actively encourages her employees to communicate with and learn from each other and their colleagues in the Libraries and the larger professional community. She keeps her supervised staff updated on topics she learns about in Cataloging Department Section Heads meetings, from conferences and workshops she attends, and from talking to other UGA librarians. She promotes similarly strong involvement in us by pointing out liaison opportunities within the Libraries, encouraging committee participation, and always notifying us of relevant professional development opportunities. Communication is clearly important to Kelly and she regularly engages in the exchange of information.

As the Head of Monographs Original Cataloging, Kelly leads her section capably and provides an excellent example for the new librarians that she supervises. Her thorough knowledge of the department, the Libraries, and local and national cataloging policies and standards as well as her dedication, initiative and cheerfulness make her a great supervisor. The three of us are fortunate to work for her and we feel that she would be an excellent choice for Supervisor of the Year.

Jenifer Marquardt

We believe that Jenifer Marquardt displays a unique blend of human relations skills, knowledge of the organization and its mission, and skill in training and leading employees that make her a great candidate for the Supervisor of the Year. As the Authorities Librarian and Assistant Head of Cataloging, Jenifer possesses great working knowledge not only of the department, but also of the other departments with which Cataloging frequently interacts and the Libraries as a whole. She always knows which department to contact about any issues that arise, and the Cataloging staff values her as a resource for workflow issues.

In addition to her knowledge of Libraries workflow, Jenifer' s broad knowledge and excellent problem-solving and communication skills make her a great supervisor and assistant department head. She keeps her own section of the department operating efficiently and helps the department as a whole run smoothly. She usually knows the answer to any given question, but, on the rare occasion that she does not, she will search until she finds it. Jenifer also has a warm personality that makes everyone in the department feel comfortable approaching her with problems or questions, and she is always kind and tactful when communicating with others. Frequently emphasizing that she is " always interruptible" she is very accessible to all of the department staff.

As both an immediate and indirect supervisor, Jenifer strives to make all Cataloging employees recognize their value and importance to the goals of the Libraries. She always emphasizes the commendable aspects of others' work and delivers suggestions in a constructive way. Because of her positive, upbeat personality and easy manner, both those that she directly supervises and other employees in the department feel that their efforts are appreciated and necessary to the operation of the Libraries as a whole.

Jenifer has been responsible for applying new technologies such as the Cataloger's Toolkit (a free software developed by a librarian at Northwestern University) to Authorities work here at the UGA Libraries. Jenifer's eagerness to adopt this new technology has led to incredible savings in catalogers' time, allowing us to process changes to existing headings in our catalog in batches rather than editing headings one at a time. For example, in October of last year, the effective use of the Cataloger's Toolkit software allowed us to complete headings changes on 11,408 records in a matter of days as opposed to the months of work that would have been required to keep our bibliographic records and catalog up to date if catalogers were to make these changes record by record.

Jenifer's expertise in assessing ambiguous situations and providing solutions that work for her colleagues is crucial to the daily workflow of the department. She handles a constant flow of Authorities-related questions that come her way from every corner of the department (and often from other departments, as well), answering each in accordance with established national practices and our local policies and procedures. In addition, Jenifer's position as Assistant Department Head makes her a resource for those in the department who have questions regarding Libraries-wide policies and procedures, and she is always a cheerful and knowledgeable source of assistance.

This year, Jenifer has taken responsibility for training a group of librarians at UGA for NACO Authorization. NACO is the name authority component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, and participants in the program agree to follow a common set of standards when creating and editing authority records in order to maintain the integrity of the larger shared authority file. In providing training in these NACO standards to members of both the Cataloging department and DLG, Jenifer is sharing her Authorities expertise not only with the librarians that she supervises, but with others in the Libraries who can benefit from her knowledge and experience. Within the documentation she has noted particularly important or unusual points, and makes sure to cover exceptions as well as standard practices. In addition to covering all the material thoroughly, Jenifer utilizes practice work to reinforce the training. She encourages participants to bring in examples and questions from our everyday workflow so that the relevance of each area we study will be clear.

Even when she is not in a formal training situation, Jenifer takes many opportunities to assist her supervisees in understanding national and local rules and best practices. As Authorities Librarian, she consults frequently with various members of the department regarding the correct form of heading appropriate to our bibliographical records. Not only does she gladly answer questions, but she takes the time to turn questions into a training opportunity to explain the reasoning behind the practices. Her goal is always for staff to better understand and be able to then implement that knowledge.

As Assistant Department Head, Jenifer is very proactive in keeping communication lines open with all members of the department. In addition to training staff as opportunities arise, Jenifer keeps her supervisees updated on topics she learns about in Cataloging Department Section Heads meetings, from talking to various other library employees, from conferences she attends, and from listservs and professional publications she monitors. She sends out weekly updates of the newest additions to the Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings (the thesaurus and classification guides used in cataloging the University of Georgia collections), often adding comments on individual changes. To encourage strong communication among her colleagues, Jenifer notifies us of discussions, conferences, and listservs we may want to be involved with. Jenifer is always accessible and ready to answer questions or point her supervised staff in the direction of someone who would better be able to address the query.

In conclusion, Jenifer is a fantastic supervisor. She is always kind, considerate and ready with answers and assistance. She keeps her supervisees aware of changes at the Libraries and in the department, and helps to keep us up to date on professional issues within the world of cataloging, as well. She is a skillful trainer and a talented leader, and she is truly an outstanding supervisor.

Jill Severn

Jill Severn knows the Russell Library like no one else, and is a spring of knowledge on the inner workings of the rest of the UGA Libraries. In short, she truly knows how to show someone the ropes. As the head of access and outreach for our special collections library she is the ultimate resource for researchers walking through our front door, visitors who come to peruse our exhibits, and donors who happen by just to check on things. More than that, at the numerous public programs we host throughout the year, Jill is the voice of the Russell & its ultimate champion. She continually looks for ways to keep the library on the cutting edge of new social media tools and ways to make our collections relevant and engaging to younger generations of patrons. Further, her work in developing the Russell Forum for Civic Life in Georgia has allowed the Russell Library to connect with partners across the university and surrounding community and to promote civic engagement across both. As our mission states, the Russell Library is interested in collecting items that reflect the intersection of politics, policy, and culture; Jill creates public discussions and programs that drive this intersection and fuel future collecting opportunities.

Jill is the hub of operations at the Russell Library. She is an effective communicator without being overwhelming or intrusive. She adds humor to our bi-weekly staff discussions, while reporting accurately on the activities of her unit. She always promotes the contributions made by those she directly supervises often giving them the solo spotlight rather than accepting any credit for her own contributions. When there is any conflict in the department, Jill is a master at conflict resolution. Never passive, she is unafraid to approach such situations head on and search for equitable resolutions. She is an active thinker - juggling numerous projects at once and always finding ways to negotiate schedules, budgets, and managing staff to accomplish amazing things.

Jill ties in every task and objective of her employees into the greater good of the Russell Library, the UGA Libraries, and the surrounding community. Those she supervises always finish projects with a sense of accomplishment and a feeling that they have contributed to something greater than themselves. When her employees are confronted with difficult personal situations or are overwhelmed by their workload, Jill offers space and time for recovery - she is helpful, but again, not overwhelming, always offering an open office to discuss problems and look for solutions on a personal and professional level.

When I had been here for just a few months, I asked Jill about my future at the Russell Library and she was thrilled! She arranged a special lunch meeting where we discussed possibilities for my future professional development, including the steps necessary for me to become a certified archivist. Though budgets are tight, she submitted that she would do everything possible to help provide me with funding for conference and special training. When I expressed interested in taking courses in non-profits management, she offered congratulations and let me know that I could create a flexible work schedule to accommodate a daytime class. When I feared what might become of my position with budget cuts, she offered frank feedback and support - the best response I could have hoped for. Finally, understanding that I come from a museum background though now work in an archives, Jill is always encouraging me to continue cultivating relationships in my other professional sphere by attending & presenting at conferences.

This past spring, I played a large part in planning our 7-part film and discussion series. Jill made sure at every step of the way that I documented my work (ex. Generated a formal report on the film series) and gave me generous credit at all of the events and during our planning committee meetings. In short, she wanted this series to be a success for the Russell Library but also something that I can put into my professional portfolio and show off to potential employers in the future. She is always thinking of how to promote her staff, always before she promotes her own hard work.

In addition, I have seen Jill offer this same support to my colleagues and the student workers here in the Russell. She is never too busy to answer a question or provide feedback when asked. She appreciates the work that everyone does - from the work on our move project that Kat Shirley supervises to Abby Griner's work to finalize and launch our new collections database. Jill shows an understanding and appreciation of each person's contribution to our larger mission and goals whether she serves as their direct supervisor or not.

Jill is the first one on board with new technologies. She has pushed us to actively engage in social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and has supported an overhaul of our blog, because she is invested in discussion and feedback. Further, she is always investigating new ways to connect to our visitors -- she investigated a lesser-known widget called " CrowdSound" which allows us to pose questions and get feedback from visitors on the web about the types of exhibits and programs we should be creating. She supported the addition of a recurring feedback zone in our exhibition space and has promoted the installation of a permanent feedback zone in our gallery space in the new special collections building. She is adaptable while knowing what she wants and what works best for both herself and her staff.

Jill is a master teacher and the world of libraries and archives is lucky to have her on board. She has been an amazing mentor to me since I started here last July, but beyond that I have seen her mentor others in our department on an ongoing basis as well as student workers and interns. For instance: this summer we have taken on two research interns who will help us to develop content for upcoming exhibits. I have never directly supervised anyone before and Jill has held my hand in preparing materials and training guides for both of these individuals. During their first two days, she has prepared a schedule of everything we need to go over with them, including a scavenger hunt through the collections which helps them to learn how to navigate our system of shelving and make sure that we can trust them to put things back where they belong. Without her guidance, I would not feel as prepared to take on the supervision of others, and surely without the materials she has generated these interns would take away much less from their summer at the Russell.

Beyond direct supervision, Jill also oversees all classroom instruction here at the Russell Library. She avidly courts professors in the history and political science departments asking them to bring their classes at the beginning of each semester so that she can provide an introduction to primary sources and our collections. She is always available for one-on-one follow-up with these students and even if she is not on the research desk when they come in, she makes time to guide them through their first visit.

Jill Severn is a great communicator with endless enthusiasm for the work that she does. As mentioned previously, she adds something special to all of our staff discussions. Her endless creativity fuels themed birthday parties and celebrations of other staff accomplishments (promotions, special recognition from professional organizations, etc.). She has the ability to convey what an archives is to the average person who walks through the door or comes to one of our public programs and is committed to making the archives a friendlier, more modern place. She works tirelessly to create everything from formal reports to blog posts and email blasts that convey what we do and why it& s important to a wide variety of audiences. And, since I've started here, I've been able to speak to these people in the same way because of Jill's encouragement and direction. She should most certainly be given the honor of Supervisor of the Year during the 2009 ASSET awards!

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