From left, FLICC Executive Director Susan Tarr and Librarian of Congress James Billington present Wilma "Sissy" Riley, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with the award for FLICC LIbrary Technician of the Year. They are joined by Susan Sanders and Rosa Liu, who accepted NIST's award for the Federal Information Center of the Year.
The Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) has announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship to recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill the information demands of government, business and scholarly communities and the American public.
The winners received their awards at the 21st Annual FLICC Forum on Federal Information Policies on Thursday, March 25, at the Library. Their names will remain on permanent display in the FLICC offices at the Library.
Federal libraries and staff throughout the United States and abroad competed in three award categories for the fourth annual FLICC Awards. The winners are listed below.
Institution Awards
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Research Library in Gaithersburg, Md., won the 2003 award for the Federal Library and Information Center of the Year in a category for large library and information centers (with a staff of 11 or more federal or contract employees).
The award recognized NIST for its technological innovations and comprehensive knowledge management systems that proactively provide the tools necessary to support new programs, superior customer service and the agency mission. The library staff won commendation for its work in 2003 on both the design and creation of the NIST Integrated Knowledge EditorialNet (NIKE), an enterprising project designed to facilitate the capture, organization, retrieval and dissemination of NIST publications; and the Laboratory Liaison program, which promotes collaboration between researchers and the library and enhances collection development and access.
The 2003 award for the Federal Library and Information Center of the Year in a category for small libraries or information centers (with a staff of 10 or fewer federal or contract employees) went to the Library Services Department of the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va.
The award recognized this department for its innovative services and superior customer services in 2003. The library was commended for its provision of knowledge-based resources that optimize military health care, promote research and encourage professional growth. The library has demonstrated its ability to combine creativity and innovation to meet the needs of its customers and the overall mission of its agency by providing print and electronic resources that support the Medicine, Nursing and Hospital Corps and training programs; by hosting a semiannual college fair; and by highlighting the scholarly activities of the center.
Federal Librarian of the Year
Lillian Woon Gassie, a senior systems librarian at the Dudley Knox Library of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., won recognition for her dynamic professionalism during 2003 in articulating the needs of the library to faculty, policymakers and information technology stakeholders. Gassie provided outstanding guidance and technical knowledge as the library developed wireless and remote proxy access to the campus network and implemented a knowledge portal and mobile education teams to support federal and state homeland security policy and strategy. Her extensive technical knowledge brought the highest level of visibility and credibility to the library as a builder of information systems and supporter of the overall mission of the agency.
Federal Technician of the Year
Wilma "Sissy" Riley, a library technician at the NIST Research Library, won recognition for her dedication to service excellence in support of the mission of the NIST Research Library and the core values of the NIST Information Services Division. In 2003 Riley set up communications connections for telecommuting staff, ensured that the library wireless technology was current and provided dynamic end-user training. Her versatility allowed her to translate the library vision into action. As a creative problem-solver, she used her talents and strong technical skills to support a variety of customer-focused activities that reinforced the library's successes.
Information about the 2004 Awards program is available on the FLICC Web site at www.loc.gov/flicc/awards.html.
