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.
NOMINEES:
Robin Fay
Robin balances an astounding array of responsibilities while remaining available to her supervisees and maintaining a positive attitude.
Charged with overseeing a variety of special projects, she delegates the various duties associated with these projects in a way that allows each member of the Database Maintenance section to widen our range of professional skills. She is unfailingly patient and well-organized when preparing training for any new project or responsibility assigned to DBM. Meticulously detailed procedures documents are given out, in addition to group training sessions in which questions are welcomed. Robin also has a talent for keeping the DBM section incredibly productive, without making its members feel "micromanaged" or mistrusted. She regularly thanks the DBM staff for our hard work.
For all of these reasons, I nominate her for the Supervisor of the Year award.
Sheila McAlister
Sheila McAlister is the most knowledgeable, accessible, and excellent supervisor I have had in my career. She holds the Digital Library of Georgia together and, through her work, has made the department an efficient and productive one while helping to create an outstanding digital library.
Sheila is the kind of boss everyone wants: she gives you the basics of what needs to be done, and she steps back to let you take charge of the task at hand. This is not to say that she doesn't provide guidance; but she allows those of us who work for her to be creative and independent. She offers advice and direction whenever she's asked, and she does so patiently and eagerly. Sheila has mastered the balance that great supervisors seem to have: she is involved at every step when she needs to be (or is asked to be), but she demonstrates her confidence and trust in us by stepping back and letting us work through projects independently and collaboratively within the department and beyond.
Working for Sheila has been the best aspect of my career so far. My knowledge of the field has grown immeasurably through and because of her. She makes me want to work hard, not because there are tangible rewards for doing so, but because she works hard and does her job very, very well. She inspires and motivates all of us in the DLG through her diligence. She is the kind of supervisor I hope to someday become.
Kristen Nielsen
Testimonial 1:
Kristin has facilitated the smooth operation of the department. No one was really sure what Reference would be like after Susan's retirement. Kristin has made an effective and smooth transition. She has successfully balanced the goals of the Libraries with the individual goals of the employees. I feel that I can talk to Kristin at any time about concerns that I might have about projects, personal development, and departmental concerns.
Testimonial 2:Kristin Nielsen took over as Interim Head of Reference in mid-2009, upon the retirement of Susan Curtis. Kristin had over ten years' experience within the Reference Department, before moving to Collection Development, where she continued to provide excellent, knowledgeable service at the reference desk, and to offer bibliographic instruction sessions to classes and individuals within her subject areas. When she moved back to Reference, Kristin called on those years of Reference experience to get back into the swing of things extremely quickly. The transition appeared seamless to those of us within the department, although Kristin had to put in extra hours to learn what had changed in her absence, as well as to get up to speed with all the various projects and to learn the supervisory aspects of the position. Despite the fact that she had not previously been in a supervisory position, she took to it quickly and with confidence, patience, and good humor. She has managed to direct people's work and deal with personnel issues, while at the same time making all members of the department feel valued and that they are being listened to.
In the past year, the department has introduced Library a la Carte subject and class guides and a Text Reference service, and continues to evolve its service at the Science Library, including by cross-staffing with Access Services staff. We are also working on a reorganization of the Reference Room at Main, have conducted a cancelation exercise, and Kristin has overseen all of these activities with aplomb. We have also seen a substantial number of changes in database subscriptions from EBSCO, as part of the process of possibly implementing the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). In addition to providing input to the EDS discussion here at the UGA Libraries, Kristin also serves on GALILEO's Discovery Service group, which is looking at a number of possible solutions for GALILEO state-wide.
Kristin has also led the Reference Department's response to the new GIL-Find interface, other GIL issues such as the new login procedures and the wording of messages in GIL and the GIL-UC. These may not be glamorous tasks, but they have a high impact on our users. Kristin has also diplomatically handled issues with Bulldog Bucks staff in terms of changes in their procedures and problems that our patrons have had with the system. Kristin has a collegial, approachable style, which when combined with her knowledge and experience, has helped her to advocate for the department and our patrons both within and beyond the Libraries.
Along with managing the Reference Department, Kristin continues to spend significant time on her Collection Development responsibilities, including the creation of lengthy potential cancellation lists, in response to the budget situation. She also continues to serve on library-wide committees, such as the GIL Coordinating Group, and the Web Advisory Group, where she is leading the sub-group that is revising the research process part of Research Central, a major undertaking. In addition, she participates in a wide range of other activities, such as teaching circles and webinars, and attends conferences and meetings.
I am nominating Kristin Nielsen for the Supervisor of the Year award for the way in which she has taken on this new role with great success, while at the same time continuing to provide exemplary service as a bibliographer/subject specialist and as a member of several Libraries committees. She has learned quickly, has an excellent rapport with the staff, and is confidently guiding the department through changing realities in terms of budget, electronic services, and the physical buildings.
Hallie Pritchett
Hallie Pritchett stepped in to supervise the Government Documents Processing Department after the department's previous Head, Carol Wheeler, retired from a long career in the Libraries. If we had become "set in our ways" here, Hallie quickly changed all that, and for the better.
Although it is never easy to step into a position that has been capably filled for many years by someone else, Hallie has imprinted her own style and brought her own considerable supervisory abilities into Government Documents Processing. Consulting closely with the present staff and other department heads, she has either been able to take over the duties that had been done by the previous dept. head, or she has found someone else to carry on these duties. She has set up training for the staff with Kelly Holt in Cataloging. Serials, which had formerly been set up in GIL by Carol, are now going to be handled by one of the staff members, after training that Hallie arranged.
Since Hallie splits her time between the Map Library and Government Documents Processing, she is not always in our office, but she is quick to respond to e-mails and checks in with us regularly to see if there are any problems. She addresses any concerns we have without delay and does not hesitate to deal with both large and small problems, in an exemplary manner. She manages to be both friendly and caring as well as business-oriented, always with an eye on moving the materials out right away for the patrons to use.
In short, Hallie has been an excellent choice for department head of Gov Docs Processing, and we are glad she is here.