EXTRA MILE/ABOVE AND BEYOND AWARD:

This award recognizes a person or group frequently and consistently working outside normal expectations to make a difference within the Libraries, while maintaining quality service or outstanding production levels with a positive and professional attitude.

NOMINEES:

Katherine (Kat) Shirley Stein

When Kat Stein was hired to head Russell Library’s Arrangement and Description Unit, one of the job responsibilities listed was “overseeing inventory of holdings and providing leadership in planning collection move to new Special Collections building.” Even in anticipation, no one on staff could know the magnitude of the job Kat would be asked to undertake along with the rest of her duties.

As collection manager and chief planner for the move, Kat oversees the complete inventory of Russell holdings on site and at three off site repositories and plans the intricate process of the intellectual and physical move of special, and often fragile, materials. Kat has demonstrated invaluable leadership in this complicated, complex task, which is more than filling boxes with stuff and transferring them to another building. Kat has the required creative, analytical thinking and ability to collaborate and coordinate with flexibility in working with her co-workers and other departments toward what is now the common goal of the move.

As example, the task includes a complete inventory of holdings on site and in three off site repositories that in turn leads to search and retrieval of the misplaced and access and location corrections, and learning a new database system and location system to accommodate new procedures, creating methods to use the new systems without having to re-do work, ensuring that tens of thousands of boxes are bar coded and logged in correctly, that thousands of books are catalogued and bar coded, determining condition of materials and location in the new building, ordering supplies and re-housing many materials for new storage, sometimes creating storage containers, participating in work space, shelving and storage decisions and environment discussions, etc., etc. Done correctly, the move is a full-time job in itself. The fact that Kat has many other duties that have drawn on her time makes her foresight, careful attention to details, and stage planning for the move all the more phenomenal. She has analyzed and worked on this project at all levels from the big picture overview to the smallest item to be counted, tagged, packed, and moved.

Kat has proved the perfect choice for leading this project, and the Russell is confident in deferring to her judgment in what each unit needs to do to complete the move satisfactorily. She is performing the most heroic and essential work above and beyond that does not often get the broad recognition deserved.

Jacquie Houston

Jacquie is always willing to help her fellow staff in the UGA Libraries. She does a weekly reference shift over at the Main Library, is helping with a Government Documents inventory project, goes out into the schools for Adopt-A-School programming, and always can be counted on to help teach library instruction classes. In late March, Jacquie went above and beyond the call of duty by filling in for me on a day when I had planned to be off. The Tuesday before my planned absence, a professor in Forestry asked if I could teach a class on finding scholarly articles related to climate change. The only day he could fit in this session was a day I had already planned to have off. I asked Jacquie if she would be willing to fill in for me. She readily accepted without complaint. Soon after committing to this first class, a second request for a class came in for the same day as the first. The only person who had an open slot for the second class was Jacquie. Again, she readily agreed to teach the class. She began preparing for the first class, but still hadn't heard anything from the second professor as to what his expectations were for the requested library session. The night before the class was scheduled for, a Sunday, Jacquie finally heard from the professor. She pulled together a class outline for this class. She was able to manage both classes and did so enthusiastically and without complaint. Jacquie can always be counted on to help her colleagues, but in this case, she definitely went above and beyond the call of duty.

David Falke

If it weren't for Dave Falke, I would have very little to show for the past three years of work. It's Dave who gets my data into the database. It's Dave who fixes my mistakes. It's Dave who is always cheerful when I call, no matter how many problems I have thrown at him. It's Dave who always has a can-do attitude and helps move my seemingly intractable roadblocks. Dave's programming expertise has enabled him to enable us to provide unprecedented access to our collections as we get ready to move them to the new building. Dave totally rocks. He is a definite asset to the Libraries. Yay Dave!

John Ergle

Although I do not work with Jay on a regular basis, I have been here long enough to have needed his help many times over the years and he has never once responded with anything less than 110% effort, no matter how big or small the problem. In fact, even if the problem is something that turns out to be outside of his job area, he still follows through as far as he possibly can - your problem becomes his problem and he's determined to solve it. Jay is the exact opposite of a 'that's not my department' person. The library is lucky to have him.

Amy Watts

This year Amy Watts moved the reference collection. She organized the weeding of the 10,000 book collection with the assistance of the selectors of the various subject areas, filled out forms for the hundreds of volumes to be sent to the repository or the stacks, and shifted the remaining volumes into a space less than half of what the collection had taken up before. Although the project was begun to free study space for our students, and clear a line of sight to the windows in the Main reference room, with future renovations on the horizon Amy has made all of our lives much easier by taking on this enormous project.

Diane Trap

On behalf of the Development office, we would like to nominate Diane Trap for the ASSET "Extra Mile/Above and Beyond" Award. Not only is she a great reference librarian, she is also graphically talented and extremely creative! Diane has designed a wonderfully fun set of 12 birthday cards, a variety of get well cards, several thank you cards, a bon voyage card, and a great "donor plea" card. Often these cards are prominently displayed on refrigerators and in offices around the state for years! She is also a great Photoshop teacher. Diane is always willing to drop what she's doing and lend a hand. The library is a much more enjoyable (and creative!) place with her around!

Donnie Summerlin

Donnie's job as digital conversion manager at the DLG has him managing several students while overseeing every step in a process that digitizes 100,000 pages of newspaper a year. The Historic Newspapers are the most heavily used collections in the DLG, and Donnie is responsible for the quantity and quality of our holdings.

In spite of handling a significant production workload, Donnie consistently finds time to contribute in meaningful ways to other DLG efforts. He regularly writes for Beyond The Pages, to inform a larger community about the most recent achievements of the DLG. He has in the last year written for the Georgia Genealogical Society newsletter, presented at the Clarke Oconee Genealogical Society, and conducted a radio interview on WREK 91.1, the student radio station at Georgia Tech. All of these opportunities were outside of his daily responsibilities, and all were accepted enthusiastically.

Donnie has played a significant role in the development of the DLG's social media presence. He was an original member of the committee charged with creating a blog, Facebook page, and twitter feed for the DLG. He has been instrumental in the design and execution of a communications strategy that produces weekly blog posts, and near daily Facebook and twitter updates. Donnie has invested himself in the success of these outlets, making sure that they are regularly updated, and interesting. As a result, since August of last year, we have had 3,700 visitors to the blog; acquired 375 Facebook friends, and 172 twitter followers. Together these represent an impressive amount of free exposure for the DLG.

And finally, Donnie improves the quality of the our work environment. As evidence of this, I need only say one word: "Danni." The blonde hair, the mustache, the saxophone. That is above and beyond the call.

Dana Miller

Though Dana Miller has worked in the Hargrett Library a short time she has proven herself an invaluable co-worker. In short order after arriving in December she had a handle on the very difficult job she was handed. In addition to inventorying the collections and correcting mistakes and oversights, she had to determine which collections still needed to be entered into Archivists Toolkit and which collections still needed barcoding. Further, the barcodes needed to be checked for accuracy. Finally, she has taken on other responsibilities when necessary.

Through it all she has worked diligently to make certain everything was done correctly according to the proper archival standards. Though there is more to do, that we will be able to move into the new Special Collections building successfully will be a testament to Dana Miller's very hard work.

Shannon Bennett and Matt Beecher

Shannon and Matt are always operating at the "above and beyond" level and often times reach "beyond the beyond." This past year, they assisted in a project that falls in this category. We were approached in fall 2010 by an internationally-exhibiting contemporary artist, Patricia Van Dalen, about doing a site-specific installation in the MLC. We worked with her over the next few months to figure out a way to help her create her vision: an abstract and colorful mural "painted" with tape that would cover the grand staircase walls between the third and fourth floors. Shannon and Matt worked with the artist and physical plant to procure ladders, prep the space, and help handle many other details that are required of a large scale installation such as this. The end result, "Fragmented Light," is stunning and has been the source of much conversation this past semester. Thank you to Shannon and Matt for their excellence in creative problem solving and logistical finesse!!

Amber Prentiss

Contributing to the improvement of the culture/quality of life of the Libraries organization -- Amber continually advocates for UGA Libraries to be practical and yet innovative in our use of technology. When she sees a user need, she does her best to try to find some way of meeting it. One important need is for students to be less passive and uncritical of digital media. Students need to have the kind of media literacy that comes from becoming a producer of media, rather than purely a consumer of media. Many assume that CTL meets all student needs for resources in this area; however, CTL can only assist with class projects that have been authorized by the instructor. CTL does not support students’ individual work for portfolios, student organizations, or other needs. Amber saw this as a niche libraries can fill. Using the example of other academic libraries, she was willing to take the initiative to put together a grant proposal seeking digital authorship tools, such as cameras and recorders, for student check-out at the MLC.

Participation in or providing leadership for special projects or initiatives -- While her colleagues await the decision on the grant, we know that, regardless of outcome, the grant request was the product of a great deal of hard work. Amber spent time doing extensive research on a variety of products. She contacted people outside of the department who had experience with video production and took every opportunity to expand her knowledge of the resources. She’s been a wonderful example to her colleagues.

Diana Hartle, Jacquie Houston, Monica Pereira, Ian Thomas and Barb Trevena -- Science Reference

Despite a staff of three librarians and two staff, this unit continues to give exemplary service to users on South Campus and beyond. Remote reference hours are held regularly in Chemistry, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Forestry, Pharmacy, Physics, School of Public Health, and Veterinary Medicine to name some. Large introductory classes, comprising up to 32 sections for some, are held every semester for Biology, Marine Sciences, Ecology and College of Agriculture. Many classes are provided on request to the many departments of South Campus, and this staff never turns down an opportunity from schools in the area to boot. This hive of activity is successful because the group works as a team readily backing each other up, teaching for each other, covering the reference desk for each other.

Despite all this activity, four of its members are actively involved in library and campus wide committees from FAB to University Council. Three regularly work shifts at the Science Circulation Desk; two regularly work desk shifts at other libraries; and two are assisting with the Government Document inventory at the Main Library! How do they do it?

This group of individuals give their all to ensure that the Libraries mission is met; that users are assisted with research, teaching, problem solving in a timely, friendly manner; that the quality of life in the Libraries' organization is improved or maintained at the highest level; that the morale of their colleagues is up beat. I am proud to be part of this group of talented, dedicated individuals who do not know how to say "No" to any possibility to improve and maintain the positive image of library service on the campus and within the community.

Marie Woods

Marie's work largely goes unheralded. Keeping an eye on the orders sent by bibliographers and watching for problems requires a high level of attention and a keen desire to make sure that everything is perfect. Making certain that the new materials are linked to the correct record helps everyone, patrons and staff, in the long run: materials are then consistently cataloged and shelved. If there is a question with an order, Marie can usually answer it in short order. She knows the details of records and the histories behind why things were done. It's largely a thankless task, not to mention a frustrating one, but an important one.

Jamie Jedlicka

Jamie continues to work very hard in preparing materials for their move to the Special Collections Building and has been a key player in coordinating many projects including doing a substantial amount of work inventorying the Georgia Room (ongoing) which involves comparing materials to their records in the Libraries catalog, verifying how many copies and volumes we own of a particular title, and barcoding as needed. She also coordinated the cataloging and processing of the Sidney Samuel Thomas collection, ensuring that these materials are not only ready to move, but also findable in the catalog. In addition to that work, she has worked with the Russell Library, coordinating the cataloging of the books in Senator Russell's office library.