May 25, 2005

Purdue Libraries honor four for outstanding service

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Four Purdue University Libraries staff members received $1,000 awards during an annual recognition ceremony for their outstanding service to their departments.

The 2005 Joseph M. Dagnese Memorial Award for Excellence in Service to the Libraries of Purdue went to Brenda Meagher, Jill Smith and Linda Purvis. Sarah Kelly claimed the John H. Moriarty Award for Excellence in Library Service.

Meagher, a circulation assistant in the Humanities, Social Science and Education Library, was cited for helpfulness and leadership in a year in which she conducted, with the help of new hand-held scanners, the first survey in 30 years of the library's entire holding of 500,000 books.

Smith, a circulation assistant in the Engineering Library, was cited for outstanding customer service as demonstrated by her creation of a procedures manual and leading implementation of new information technology and serving on multiple committees pertaining to library policies and procedures.

Purvis, a senior workstation administrator in the information technology department, was recognized for her leadership through the years in incorporating new computer hardware and software and staff training initiatives.

Kelly, a life sciences librarian, was honored for promoting user instruction and information literacy and positioning the libraries as a key resource in the emerging field of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics includes the process by which scientific researchers access the massive amount of biological data contained in databases around the world. Purdue Libraries sponsored the university's first annual Bioinformatics Week on May 16-20. International bioinformatics experts from Washington, D.C., and London conducted free workshops for Purdue staff, faculty, and graduate students.

Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu

Source: Judith Schumaker, Purdue Libraries director of development, (765) 494-7987, jschumkr@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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