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RUSA’s STARS section names winners of 2015 achievement awards for ILL practitionersRUSA’s STARS section names winners of 2015 achievement awards for ILL practitioners

The Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS) has selected the winners of its two achievement awards honoring librarians providing exceptional service in the fields of interlibrary loan (ILL), resource sharing and document delivery.

The Virginia Boucher-OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award, sponsored by OCLC, offers $2,000 and a citation to a librarian showing outstanding professional achievement, leadership and contributions to interlibrary loan and document delivery. Lars Leon, resource sharing librarian and head of organizational development, University of Kansas Libraries, was named as this year’s winner for his impressive breadth and depth of knowledge about interlibrary loan, his enthusiasm about mentoring new practitioners and advocating with upper-level library administrators to recognize the importance of resource sharing in their organizations.

The Atlas Systems Mentoring Award, sponsored by Atlas Systems, Inc., offers $1,250 to a library practitioner new to the field of ILL and resource sharing to fund travel expenses to ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco. Karen Thomas, access services librarian at Krauskopf Library, Delaware Valley College, was named as this year’s recipient as she has demonstrated a passion and need for professional development, networking, education and service to her local community.

“The STARS awards provide our section the opportunity to recognize current and future leaders in the field of resource sharing. The Virginia Boucher/OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award is the crowning achievement in the career of an ILL Librarian and recognizes outstanding professional achievement, leadership and contributions to ILL and document delivery, while the STARS/Atlas Systems Mentoring Award allows someone new to the field to attend the ALA Annual Conference and gain valuable experience and mentoring through their connection to STARS,” said Tina Baich, section chair of STARS. “I offer my heartfelt congratulations to this year’s winners, Lars Leon and Karen Thomas, and look forward to celebrating with them at the RUSA Achievement Awards Reception to be held at the ALA Annual Conference. I would also like to thank the STARS Awards Committees for their service and thoughtful deliberation as well as our generous sponsors, OCLC and Atlas Systems, for their continued support of these awards.”

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RUSA’s Business Reference and Services Section selects achievement award and grant winners

The Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS) of RUSA has selected the winners of the 2015 achievement awards, research and travel grants that recognize the profession’s most exceptional librarians, libraries and projects involving business reference services today.

The Academic Business Librarianship Travel Award, which consists of a citation and $1,250, is awarded to an individual new to the field of academic business librarianship in order to support attendance to the ALA Annual Conference. Grace Liu, business reference librarian at the University of Maine, was selected as this year’s recipient.

The Emerald Research Grant Award, sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing, consists of one $5,000 grant awarded to an individual or team seeking funding support to conduct research in business librarianship. Jason Dewland, assistant librarian and Cindy Elliott, engineering and innovation librarian, University of Arizona were selected for their study, “Review of Research Methods Employed by Start-Ups,” which will identify networks of new businesses that can be targeted for data collection and to identify the research practices and information needs of new start-up businesses.

The Gale Cengage Learning Excellence in Business Librarianship Award, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $3,000 to a librarian providing outstanding business reference services. Peter Z. McKay, business librarian, University of Florida is this year’s winner for his innovative development of online business collection development, instructional resources, service to BRASS and his invaluable contributions to the profession.

The Gale Cengage Learning Student Travel Award, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $1,250 in travel funds to the ALA Annual Conference and a one year BRASS membership to a student in an accredited MLIS program. Sara F. Hess, MLIS candidate, University of Michigan School of Information, was named as this year’s recipient.

The Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award, sponsored by Morningstar, offers $1,250 to a public librarian providing business reference services so they may attend the ALA Annual Conference. Barbara Alvarez, business liaison librarian, Barrington Area Library (Illinois) was selected for her extensive range of activities in support of the local business community, including one-on-one appointments to assist business professionals and entrepreneurs, podcasts, as well as maintaining a business blog and a SlideShare account with business database tutorials.

“Congratulations to this year’s BRASS award winners. We look forward to celebrating with them in June at the RUSA Awards Reception. I would like to sincerely thank the members of our award committees for their hard work in selecting the winners and to all of our generous sponsors for their support,” said BRASS Chair Todd Hines. “We know that vendors have many options for spending their outreach money and we are extremely appreciative to the BRASS award sponsors: Gale Cengage Learning, Emerald Group Publishing and Morningstar.”

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Call for nominations: RUSA’s 2015 Achievement Awards deadline Dec. 14

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS AND SUBMISSIONS
RUSA is seeking nominations for its annual series of awards and grants. Nominations and supporting materials for most awards must be submitted by Dec. 14, 2014.

RUSA encourages members to nominate their colleagues whose work has influenced their thinking and performance and whose contributions merit recognition by the profession.

Achievement awards for individuals and groups:

Travel awards to the ALA Annual Conference:

  • BRASS Gale Cengage Learning Student Travel Award presents funds to a student enrolled in an ALA accredited master’s degree program to fund travel the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $1,250* and a citation. This award’s nomination deadline is Feb. 8, 2015.
  • BRASS Academic Business Librarianship Travel Award is presented to a new librarian in the field of academic business librarianship in order to support attendance to the ALA Annual Conference. $1,250* and a citation.
  • Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award offers funds to a public librarian who has performed outstanding business reference service and who requires financial assistance to attend the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored by Morningstar, Inc.; $1,250* and a citation.
  • STARS/Atlas Systems Mentoring Award offers ALA Annual Conference travel assistance funds to a library practitioner who is new to the field of interlibrary loan/document delivery or electronic reserves, and who has involvement in the areas of borrowing, lending, document delivery, electronic reserves, material delivery or resource sharing. Sponsored by Atlas Systems; $1,250* and a citation.

Research grants:

*Monetary award amounts are subject to change without notice and are contingent upon donor funding supplied at the time the award is presented. Questions about these awards should be directed to the committee chairperson—access committee contact information by logging in at www.ala.org, then accessing the RUSA roster webpage—or to the RUSA headquarters staff.

More information about these awards, including nominating instructions, can be found on RUSA’s awards webpage.

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Now accepting nominations for 2014 RUSA achievement awards, research and travel grants

‘Tis the season!

The nomination period is now open for the many achievement awards and conference travel and research grants offered by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

RUSA, which represents librarians and information service professionals in reference, collection development, adult readers’ advisory, genealogy, resource sharing and user services, is accepting nominations for the following 2014 awards. The deadline for all nominations is December 15, 2013, with the exception of the BRASS Gale Cengage Learning Student Travel Award, which has a deadline of January 31, 2013. Award criteria, nomination forms and instructions for submissions are available at each of the award’s web pages below.

Professional Achievement Awards for Individuals and Groups

Travel Grants to ALA Annual Conference

Research Grants

More information about these awards, including nominating and submission instructions, can be found at the RUSA Awards Web page. Monetary award amounts are subject to change without notice and are contingent upon donor funding supplied at the time the award is presented. Questions about these awards should be directed to the committee chairperson or to Leighann Wood, RUSA awards program coordinator at lwood@ala.org.

RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.