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James Bennett Childs Award

Andrea Sevetson, Information Professional Consultant, LexisNexis Academic and Library Solutions, is the 2009 recipient of the James Bennett Childs Award. This award is being given to Andrea for her significant and sustained contributions to government documents librarianship. Andrea’s recognition stems not only from her work in GODORT but also her contributions to ALA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and currently at LexisNexis Academic and Library Solutions.

Numerous letters were submitted to the GODORT Award’s Committee outlining Andrea’s illustrious career. Andrea has the distinction of serving as Chair of GODORT (1996-1997) and Chair of the U.S. Public Printer’s Depository Library Council (2001-2002). Andrea has also chaired the GODORT Bylaws Committee (2001-2002), served as Program Committee Chair (1995-1996), and the International Documents Task Force Coordinator (1993-1994) as well as serving as a member on numerous standing committees.

It is also important to note Andrea’s contributions to other GODORT initiatives, including her work as the first GODORT Web Administrator (1993-2001), and her outstanding work as the Lead Editor of DttP (2003-2009). Andrea is known as the Godmother of the Policy and Procedures Manual (PPM) and, as several nominators noted, can cite chapter and verse at any meeting for any area covered by the PPM. It is to her credit that she almost single-handedly revised the PPM to reflect parliamentary and technological changes. In each these roles, Andrea has set a new standard for achievement and excellence. In particular, her references noted her uncanny ability to connect people and projects based on their skills and personal attributes, and the outstanding quality of all the products she has led and developed.

Equally important, however, are Andrea’s contributions outside of GODORT. Her work on the Inter-Agency Working Group on Government Information Policy (IAWG), her contributions as a librarian working with European Union materials, and her work as a Special Assistant for Government Information at the California Digital Library all were noted by her nominators as significant contributions to the government information arena. Lastly, it is also important to note her work with the U.S. Census Bureau in making older decennial censuses and the Statistical Abstract of the United States available electronically, and now as a trainer for LexisNexis Academic and Library Solutions. Each job has required detailed knowledge of government information, and Andrea has brought forward to those positions the same energy, dedication, and leadership which she committed to GODORT.

Therefore, in honor of Andrea’s contributions to GODORT and all users of government information it is indeed an honor to present the James Bennett Child Award to Andrea Sevetson.

LexisNexis/GODORT/¾«¶«´«Ã½"Documents to the People" Award

The 2009 recipient of the LexisNexis/GODORT/ALA/Documents to the People Award is Daniel Cornwall. This award honors the individual “who has most effectively encouraged the use of government documents in support of library service.” Daniel’s colleagues in GODORT believe he is most deserving of this award because of his zeal for “openness and transparency of government information.” They describe him as “a government information activist to the core,” as demonstrated by his work with the Alaska State Library, GODORT, and numerous online endeavors that foster collaboration among government documents specialists, and promote government publications on a global scale.

At the Alaska State Library, Daniel has utilized the Internet to deliver both state and federal government information to citizens, as well as to preserve this information in electronic formats for future generations. Through GODORT Daniel has spearheaded the State Blue Books and State Agency Databases in order to improve members’ access to valuable government resources and to encourage their contribution to the organization.

Daniel is probably best known for his efforts to highlight government information via the Web, especially through social networking sites. Facebook, Ning, Flickr, del.icio.us, Wikipedia, and YouTube are just a few of the outlets he has used to advocate depositories and their collections. Most notably, Daniel has created a strong presence on the where he has overseen the EPA Pilot Tagging Project and the Best Titles Ever compilation. His informative and influential blog posts on FGI connect documents librarians and other citizens to information tools for use in their professional and personal lives. Throughout his voluminous work, Daniel has written and advocated for ways of collecting, accessing, and preserving government information. He has been tireless in his outreach to both the library community and other user groups to make everyone aware of the critical issues surrounding government information. For all these reasons GODORT is very proud to present him with this year's "Documents to the People" Award.

Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Founders Award

The recipient of the 2009 Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Award is Eleanor Chase, Head of the Government Publications Department at the University of Washington Libraries. This award recognizes Ms. Chase’s significant contributions to the field of state, local and federal documents.

For more than 30 years Ms. Chase has served the citizens of Washington beginning in 1976 when she became the International Documents Librarian. In 1981 she accepted the appointment as Head of the Government Publications Department and assumed the role of U.S. Documents Librarian. Ms. Chase is an expert in all government information, and often colleagues refer their toughest questions to her. Ms. Chase has been referred to as the “go to” person for GIS expertise in the University of Washington Libraries, having served as Principal Investigator for the Libraries in the Association of Research Libraries Geographic Information System Literacy Project (1992-1997). A supporter noted, “what stands out in Eleanor’s career is her unflagging and passionate commitment to user-centered service and the right of all citizens to free access to government information.”

Ms. Chase has been active in GODORT, having served on the Steering Committee from 1978-1985 and again in 1991-1992, and has also served in the Federal and International Documents Task Forces. Ms. Chase has also been involved with the Association of Public Data Users and the 2000 Census Committee. Her understanding of the Census is legendary in the state and region. At the state level, Ms. Chase has served on the Steering Committee of the Washington State Data Center since 1988 and the Washington State Library Coordinating Committee for a State Documents Plan (1984-1995).

In the state of Washington she has been referred to as the matriarch of all things documents. Ms. Chase’s nomination letter noted “Her colleagues warmly refer to the dozens of librarians and graduate students who keep in touch with her as the "Eleanor Chase Alumni Society.” She has taught the government publications class in the University of Washington Information School and has mentored countless graduate students in librarianship and other disciplines. One of the traits she shares with Bernadine Abbott-Hoduski is her natural skill of lobbying for resources. Ms. Chase represents the best of our profession, modeling leadership, service, creativity, and innovation, particularly in promoting and facilitating the use of government publications. In recognition of her contributions to state and local documents librarianship and to the community of documents librarians, GODORT is proud to present this award to Eleanor Chase.

NewsBank/Readex/GODORT/¾«¶«´«Ã½Catharine J. Reynolds Research Grant

The 2009 recipient of the Catharine J. Reynolds Research Grant is Aimée Quinn, a Librarian at the Parish Memorial Library at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Aimee has worked in libraries and government information for over 20 years and is an assistant editor of Government Information Quarterly. She is also a former chair of GODORT and has served on numerous GODORT committees.

Aimée's research focus is on the Serial Set as an illustration of U.S. information policy over time, and her goal is to develop a more structured analysis of the publication history of the Serial Set. This idea was a project sponsored by the Rare and Endangered Government Publications Committee. The Reynolds Award will provide the funds to travel to and do research at the Senate Library and the University of Idaho Library. These two libraries have fairly complete holdings, but different versions, of this publication. The research will be used in the creation of a book about the Serial Set and its presence in research and scholarship.

This grant will give Aimée an opportunity to focus on writing and working with contributors to the book. Her contribution to the book will be in the introduction, which will be about the origins of the Serial Set and why it is of such importance to scholarship and librarianship. Aimée has graciously offered the proceeds from the book to go to GODORT. Promotion and discussions of the book will take place through presentations at the Federal Depository Library Conference and possibly other conferences. Several of the contributors plan to discuss their work at their own professional conferences, fostering the book's impact across multiple disciplines.

W. David Rozkuszka Scholarship

The 2009 recipient for the W. David Rozkuska Scholarship is Justin Joque. Justin is a staff member at the University of Michigan Graduate Library, and is a student in the School of Information, expecting to finish his degree in December 2010. Justin splits his time at his job between the Serials and Microforms Departments and the Government Documents Department. It is his work in the Government Documents Department that has truly sparked his professional interest.

Justin's keen eye for detail in collection maintenance was particularly noted by his references. Justin has also been commended by his colleagues as having equally strong understandings of user-design issues and technology, something we can all appreciate as a newly emerging core competency in our field. As one of his references noted, “Justin possesses the skill-set that many documents librarians have now, but will become essential for librarians in the future.”

Justin also works the Documents Center public services desk, where he finds the reference work, particularly with data sets, to be both challenging and exciting. He looks forward to continuing his work in academic libraries with government documents collections, and this scholarship will allow him to continue to work towards this goal.