EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE:
This award recognizes creativity, innovation, and dedication in providing service to our users through both our public service points and outreach to infrequent or non library users. It is awarded to an individual or group for creating, developing, or implementing an idea or procedure that noticeably improves overall service to our users and helps the Libraries fulfill its mission to "uphold service to the patron both on and off campus as the ultimate goal of the Libraries."
NOMINEES:
Lynn Cahoon and Ngaire Smith (Remote Reference)
Lynn and Ngaire work with patrons who may never see the inside of the Libraries. They answered 6,887 phone questions in FY2009, and 877 email questions--that's nearly ten percent of the total questions answered in Main, Science, and the MLC. They represent the Libraries with professionalism, patience, and skill, answering questions on all points of the spectrum from random to crazy. They also make the reference desk schedule, work on the reference desk, and teach bibliographic instruction classes. With all they do, Lynn and Ngaire are invaluable to Main Reference.
Laura Heilman
Laura Heilman is part of the elibrary team that troubleshoots access problems relating to our electronic resources. Her perseverance in solving access issues deserves recognition. I am always amazed how quickly she responds to patrons. Her demeanor is always extremely professional. When responding to an issue, she gives the patron an easy-to-understand answer and a timeframe for resolution of the issue. Her prompt and informative responses provide a positive image of the Libraries within the university community. Laura also provides timely updates about access issues to the Reference Department as she finds out about upcoming outages or issues that may hinder our access. Laura is a true asset to our organization as her service ethic for both internal and external customers is excellent.
Jan Levinson
Jan Levinson manages much of the Russell Library's Web 2.0 presence with verve and dedication. She adds new content to the Russell blog on an almost daily basis and is always mulling new strategies for engaging current and potential audiences. In addition to the blog, Jan also "tweets" to Russell followers and connects the Russell Twitter account with others engaged in similar work. Jan also manages the Russell Library and Russell Forum Facebook presence as well. For the past two years she has attended the Web Wise conference in DC and Colorado on her own dime to learn more about what others are doing in this realm. She has returned each time with new ideas to test and put into practice to enhance the Russell's presence.
In these hard economic times, Web-based outreach has become a popular tool for strengthening and expanding connections with communities among libraries, museums, and archives. Jan's work on the Russell Library's contributions to this trend has been creative, committed, and a true asset to the Russell Library and its current and potential constituents.
Carla Wilson Buss
I am nominating Carla Buss for the award for Excellence in Service because of her continuous commitment to great service, the way she reaches out to faculty and students and becomes their "go to" person for help with anything library-related, and the enthusiasm with which she promotes the Libraries' services to her constituency.
When Carla took over as the librarian at the Curriculum Materials Library, she had to contend with various inherited problems and with running a "one-librarian" library, something she had never done before. She hit the ground running, using her humor and energy to good effect in forging relationships with faculty and students in the College of Education, whether it was through meeting them at the CML service desk, assisting them individually with research, or through bibliographic instruction sessions. Carla has used various forums to promote bibliographic instruction to the College, which has resulted in a heavy teaching load, as well as a great deal of positive feedback from faculty and students. To promote use of the collection, Carla sends out new book lists weekly, and has worked with the College's OIT personnel to redo the CML's web site.
One area in which Carla has greatly improved service to CML users is that of technology. She successfully wrote a grant for Student Tech Fee monies to get six new workstations, and a public printer. Previously, students had to print to a printer in the OIT office at the other end of the floor. With the new machines and networked printer, students have quick and easy access to online resources and the tools they need to do their work efficiently.
In addition to the large number of education-related instruction sessions that Carla teaches, she also serves as a RefWorks and EndNote trainer, and has offered many one-to-one sessions on RefWorks in particular. For Education, with its large number of graduate students, she serves as a valuable resource for advice on citation management software. She also continues to teach bibliographic instruction sessions in History, something she did for many years as a member of the Reference Department.
Carla makes an effort to really get to know her departments, and to tailor services to their needs. As an example, last year she made webpages on searching GIL & GALILEO for each department in the COE: http://www.coe.uga.edu/cml/tutorials/index.html. Such efforts are appreciated by busy faculty and students, and serve to underline the Libraries' willingness to help them with their research needs. Carla has also taken part in promotional events, such as the Dia de Los Ninos/Ninas, an annual celebration of children, books and cultures. This year, she partnered with the Department of Language & Literacy Education and CLASE to host the second annual celebration, offering crafts, a puppet show, a sampling of multicultural children's literature and informal discussions with faculty on reading with your child.
Throughout her career at UGA, Carla has always offered outstanding service to our patrons, whether at reference desks, or through teaching, one-to-one help with research, or enthusiastic outreach, and she is thoroughly deserving of this award in recognition of her efforts and success.