For the second year in a row, the Library of Congress was selected one of the top five best places to work in government in the field of information technology systems, according to a survey conducted by Computerworld, a newspaper for information systems management.
"For the Library to be selected twice is an outstanding commentary on where you work," said Katie Kress Taplett, Regional Manager at Computerworld, who recently presented a commemorative plaque to Suzanne Thorin, LC chief of staff; Herbert Becker, director of Information Technology Services, and the ITS Management Team.
The Library moved up in rank from fourth place to third among five agencies cited in the government category (the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the Department of Labor, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency).
The Library also made Computerworld's list of the 100 best places for information professionals to work in government, private industry or academe.
Selection involved polling more than 1,500 information systems managers, who in turn nominated about 600 outstanding information systems organizations within their industry. This list was added to the top 250 companies on the Fortune 500 list of industrial and service firms.
Computerworld asked these 850 organizations for information on key quality-of-worklife issues such as salary levels, staff growth, employee benefits, training, racial and gender diversity, organizational communications and the use of technologies. "This year's survey identifies a strong correlation between the growth rates of IS organizations and the amount that their companies invest in IS talent, specifically in training," said Bill Laberis, editor-in-chief of Computerworld.
This is the third time in the past two years that the Library has been cited for excellence in information technology. In addition to appearing on Computerworld's top 100 list in 1994, the Library was included among the CIO-100 for its customer services in 1993.
CIO, a magazine for information executives, specifically commended the Library for making its public files available over the Internet, and its plans to extend a user-friendly graphical interface to remote locations. It also praised the digital imaging system that provides document delivery to Congress, accommodates more subscribers, produces superior prints and reduces turnaround time from the old microfiche system.
