2003 Service Quality Improvement Awards Ceremony
Monday, February 23, 2004

Left to right: Front Row: Bernadette Cioffi (ex-officio) Claire Halloran, Jeanette Murdock,
Back row: Jan Glover (chair), Sharon Forbes, Holly Grossetta Nardini

University Librarian Alice Prochaska welcomes everyone to the
Service Quality Improvement Awards ceremony

We will begin with our two honored students.

Arija Weddle,
Historical Sound Recordings

Arija Weddle is recognized for unlocking a valuable collection in the Historical Sound Recordings Collection. During four academic years plus portions of two summers, Arija has produced over 1,300 computer files that provide a complete and verified index of the sound recordings of literature at Yale, primarily writers reading their own works of poetry and prose. Through Arija's work, literary searches, which previously took up to three hours apiece, have been transformed into quick and easy computer searches, with a major improvement in the department's quality of service. Arija's efforts have saved weeks of staff time. Arija's four years of accurate, efficient, self-reliant and resourceful work have produced a major accomplishment for the Yale University Library.

Shermon Williams,
Access Services

Shermon Williams is recognized for exceptional dedication in his three years of work with the Access Services Department in Sterling Memorial Library and Cross Campus Library. This past summer he started working on a special project in the stacks and raised the bar for the quality of student employee work. His assignment was to bring order to the chaotic world of folios in the Sterling stacks and he tackled this task with enthusiasm. He developed ways of organizing information about folios, created item records for folios, learned to look at these books with a preservationist's eyes (thanks to help from the staff of Collections Care), and, last but not least, put them in call number order. He learned the idiosyncracies of the shelf list and public catalog and discovered folios for which there were no Orbis records. These have now been retrospectively converted, or "reconned." At the same time, he has done an inventory of our folio collection and identified folios that have been damaged or vandalized. Shermon is reliable, knowledgeable and a valuable asset to Access Services.

Next, our five individual awards.

Laura Johnson,
Collections Care, Preservation Department

Laura Johnson is recognized for developing and promoting improvements in pamphlet binding, which result in budgetary savings and improved service reliability and patron satisfaction. A year and a half ago, the Collections Care Program of the Preservation Department had a huge backlog of newly cataloged material that needed to be bound in pamphlet binders. It was difficult to determine when materials had arrived for binding and unbelievably time-consuming to find requested material. Laura was the keystone to helping to improve inventory control over this chaotic collection. Laura sorted 10,000 pamphlets, carefully planning out workflow to maximize efficiency. Her major contribution was to insist on spending time up front sorting the items by size and binding style. While this does not contribute to speed in locating a requested title, it helps determine what size and quantity of binders to order, as well as prioritize what to bind first. The project has enabled the unit to have more accurate information on the extent of the backlog and make better budgetary projections. It has made it easier to determine and improve turnaround time. In addition, hundreds of items declared "lost" at the time of Voyager implementation are now found. But the most important improvement is the ease of locating requested material--now same-day turnaround on requests is virtually guaranteed. This project would not have been as successful without the dedication and conscientiousness of Laura Johnson.

Sarah Lewis,
Kline ScienceLibrary

Sarah Lewis is recognized for superb cross-functional flexibility in handling the exceptional challenge of working in three different public service units, proving the concept that a "floater" position can be responsible and accountable for successful provision of service at distributed units. In addition to her regular bindery duties in the Kline Science Library, Sarah serves as the primary back-up for coverage of the public service desk in the Geology Library, as the open/close person for the Chemistry Library, and for circulation desk coverage at the Kline Science Library. She manages to perform these radically different duties on a moment's notice, without any detrimental impact on her binding duties. In fact, she has contributed to new processes and procedures for binding and helped train other staff. In a departmental library, the staffing model often requires staff to wear many hats, and to be exceptionally flexible in the planning of any given day. Sarah Lewis' unfailingly positive attitude, helpful nature and conscientious attentiveness to the responsibilities of her own work contribute to the quality provision of quality service at Kline, and at all the science libraries. Sarah solves problems independently and is proactive in offering assistance to the public. Sarah's helpfulness consistently elicits compliments from patrons and staff alike. Sarah sets an excellent example for all staff who are asked to perform cross-training tasks, wearing many hats and wearing them all well.

Scott Matheson,
Law Library

Scott Matheson is recognized for his important contributions to the SQI Council's Reference Group real-time reference service pilot, Ask!live. In March 2002, the SQI Reference Group hosted site visits by a number of virtual reference software companies. All Yale librarians had been invited to attend, but only one person outside the evaluation group appeared-Scott Matheson. Scott was quickly invited to join the Group and has been fundamental to the success of this service. Scott shares his technical expertise, offers ongoing training to participant librarians, lobbies for the Macintosh perspective, participates in survey development, and tests new interfaces to make the service more streamlined and user-friendly. He spearheaded the ongoing pilot of a self-service staff coverage calendar that has provided a clear substitution record and an immediate way to check if a particular librarian's scheduled relief does not sign on at the expected time. Scott also frequently volunteers to cover this Yale-wide service simultaneously with the Law Library's service during lower-use times when most librarians are off duty. His contributions have helped forge a closer public services relationship between Law and other Yale libraries. The Ask!live service would not be where it is today were it not for Scott's expertise and steady contributions to this important public service initiative. Scott is one of virtual reference's leading experts. Aside from sharing his tremendous expertise, Scott's tireless work with Ask!live and his enthusiasm for the project ensure that Yale's service to the public is as good as it can be.

Brian Kupiec,
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Brian Kupiec is recognized for innovative contributions and a collaborative work approach that have resulted in improved workflow for staff and positive outcomes for library readers. Brian has been a strong contributor to the Electronic Library Initiative (ELI) program to explore the impact of digital images in teaching and learning. He has led two cross-unit teams of staff that provide customized support for faculty. This form of service support-assembling a team of experts across Library and IT units-has been uncharted at Yale and Brian has used the opportunity to foster cooperative working arrangements as well as introduce innovative solutions to technical problems. One unique and invaluable contribution he has made to the Library is the Beinecke Digital Library. Originally developed for the Beinecke photo archive, the Digital Library software was customized by Brian and Web and Workstation Services staff for use by faculty in the classroom, as well as by researchers worldwide. This joint development effort helped foster cooperation across library units and is an example of how the library's goal of a "federated digital library support infrastructure" can work. Brian provides excellent systems support and leadership for the Beinecke Library, but the whole Yale University Library system benefits from his expertise and programming skills.

G. Todd Robie,
Visual Resources

Todd Robie is recognized for his extraordinary dedication to improving the workflow and procedures in the Visual Resources Collection in a way that has improved working relationships with the unit's most important clients and benefited teaching at Yale. Todd designed and implemented the "Insight Support Plan" last summer and fall with the support of the Visual Resources Collection staff. The project responded to an escalating need to provide faculty with a clear process for requesting image support, equitably distributed image production resources, and reliable expectations for delivery. Bringing this plan to fruition required a genuine shift in the culture of both the Visual Resources Collection and the faculty it serves. Certain faculty members have not been as familiar with the Insight software tool or even the digital environment, while others, in their enthusiasm, have had unrealistic ideas about what can be accomplished. Todd's Insight Support Plan--in essence a service contract with faculty-helped the staff and faculty balance and predict their workload, by establishing schedules and prioritizing tasks in digital conversion. The Plan achieved its three critical service quality outcomes: improved communication understanding of shared responsibility, and trust building. Developing a program to successfully redesign the workflow in the Collection and influence the faculty's preparation schedule required detailed knowledge, well-developed analytical skills, meticulous follow-through and above all, an abundance of tact and diplomacy. Todd brought all of these skills to bear. The results of his efforts have been remarkable. Todd's guiding intelligence and integrity have guaranteed that the Collection can deliver what is promised.

Next, we have five awards for Teams

Borrow Direct Working Group Team

Carol Jones, Document Delivery/ILL and
Jeffrey Barnett, Library Systems Office (Danuta Nitecki, Team Sponsor)

The Borrow Direct Working Group is recognized for its success in improving a high-impact service that has far-reaching impact on library readers. Borrow Direct has been a stunning success. This past year it was declared permanent, a change was made in the system architecture, and four other research institutions were added, bringing the total of participating libraries to seven. The Borrow Direct Working Group shepherded these changes while improving productivity and local work methods, and further improved the service's reliability and responsiveness. Borrow Direct has decisively achieved its objectives of reducing the costs of an ILL transaction below $10 and delivering books to readers in less than four days. Borrow Direct continues to delight our readers and exceed our best business expectations. It is carefully and beautifully managed. Borrow Direct is a prime example of a service which improves efficiency of library operations, promotes inter-library and intra-library cooperation, and at the same time provides enhanced features for readers. Carol and Jeffery continue to prove how enthusiastic persistence and a determination to overcome all obstacles pays off for both the Library and for readers.

Eli Express Improvement Team

Left to right: Michael DiMassa, John Gallagher, Susan Burdick, John Vincenti,
Carol Jones, and Linnard Inabinet. Missing from photo: Alan Solomon and Michelle Rubino.
(Danuta Nitecki, Team Sponsor)

The Eli Express Improvement Team exemplifies many of the qualities one would associate with all successful quality improvement initiatives: a reliance on data, a willingness to put aside personal and departmental interests, cooperation, creative thinking and attention to detail. The Eli Express service that began years ago as a shipping arrangement has become a critical part of the Library's reader services, offering borrowers the ability both to request paging and delivery of items from one Yale library to another. This Team was charged with examining the service and making recommendations for improvement. The group gathered data to track progress in meeting its success factors and to make evidence-based decisions on how to improve the service. Some results were that the delivery van has been re-routed to add 6 additional stops per day while actually reducing the total mileage driven. Two additional email batch jobs now notify patrons more quickly about material availability. The division of labor in the service was re-assessed, and new reports have been created to allow better monitoring and management of this vital service. Changes have been tested and early results indicate that the efforts of this team resulted in a decrease in turnaround by a day, a reduction of unit cost from $.23 to $.15 per item and documented customer delight. Projected annual savings are valued at $18,000 in staff effort alone. The Eli Express Improvement Team's work provides us with a good example of a successful use of quality improvement techniques to improve staff efficiency and ultimately deliver service enhancements to readers-all at a cost savings to the Library.

Committee for Digital General Resources

Left to right: Kimberly Parker, Daniel Dollar, Susanne Roberts,
Julie Linden, Ann Okerson, Jennifer Weintraub. Back row:
Richard Richie, Joan Emmet, Andy Shimp, Tao Yang, Gwyneth Crowley.
Missing from photo: Dale Askey, Suzanne Lorimer, Stephanie Davidson, Lori Bronars
(Ann Okerson, Team Sponsor)

The Committee for Digital General Resources (CoDGeR) is recognized for forging new territory in the field of electronic resources, creating policy and negotiating deals to improve readers' access to e-reources and save the library time and money. CoDGeR is a subcommittee of the Collection Development Council that has worked successfully since 1998 to decipher the complex world of information in electronic format and provide leadership and direction to help selectors understand the ramifications of decisions, building the bedrock under our new digital library collections. This group tackles its work with humor and infusions of chocolate. During this past year, CoDGeR organized and led a series of library-wide forums to establish institutional norms for collecting e-journal package deals, ultimately publishing guidelines reflecting the ultimate goals of service quality for users. Electronic resources are the fastest growing part of the library budget and the decisions of this group have very real economic consequences. CoDGeR reviews and analyzes vendor offerings that cross discipline lines, often with price tags of six figures. CoDGeR's work saves the library in the range of 10-15% over list-price offerings by leveraging the library community, and it serves as a model of YUL budgetary cooperation. CoDGeR has fulfilled its charge in an exemplary manner, resulting in admirable service quality outcomes for staff and patrons.

Eli Team New Haven

Left to right, Front : Karen Reardon, Diane Kaplan, Pedro Soto, Sarah Coe, Jennifer Weintraub.
Missing from photo: Nancy Godleski, Fred Musto, Abraham Parrish
(Danuta Nitecki, Sponsor)

ELI Team New Haven is recognized for its exceptional handling of a new opportunity to apply technology and services to improve library support for classroom teaching and learning. This group was one of five during the fall semester that provided support under the ELI program for faculty members utilizing digital images in teaching. The team supported the very popular multi-section survey course, New Haven and the Problem of Change in the American City. The team successfully handled a set of technical challenges that resulted in an exciting new teaching tool that the faculty appreciates tremendously and wishes to expand further. Collectively the team scanned and indexed images, including over 1,000 maps; identified and sometimes scanned over 700 photos from archives and the New Haven Historical Society's collections; integrated data sets held by the faculty; provided instruction in use of new technologies as well as library collections; modified a web search engine to allow it to search the content of Excel and .pdf files and developed a web site that allowed overlays of different formats of information to visualize the changes in the development of New Haven over time. The importance of the impact of this course in helping us understand and change how we support the use of library materials in the classroom cannot be underestimated. Faculty involved proclaim they will "never teach the same way again."

Microcosm Group

Front row: left to right Dexter Banks, Susan Burdick, Katherine Hall,
Kevin Pacelli, Kate Reynolds, Erika Heinen, Mary Caldera. Back row: Matthew
Beacom, R. Kenny Marone, Christine de Vallet, Marcia Romanansky,
Maureen Malone Jones, Janusz Kulakowski, Betty Whitemore, Richard Richie.
Missing from photo: Mark Engsberg and Diane Young Turner (Sponsor)

The Microcosm Group is recognized for developing activities that foster cooperation and harmony and make the Library a more humane place to work. They have been a loud and forceful voice for humane, flexible and creative management as well as for personal development and training. The Microcosm Group was formed to improve the library's staff relations and communications and to support the strategic planning process by recommending ways to make the Yale University Library flexible and agile and more able to accomplish its goals, vision and mission. As a group, they are a highly representative mix of the library system in terms of functions, levels and locations. The Group took on their challenge with a high level of energy and passion, turning their attention to details and also to general and universal questions. In meeting their charge, service quality was their driving force, with a relentless focus on users (both library patrons and staff). Trust, communication and training were central as they tried to operate as a group in the same atmosphere they envisioned for the Library. Some of the initiatives that the group undertook include leading four large group meetings to obtain library-wide input on the strategic plan, meetings that over three quarters of library staff attended. The Group developed the Mission, Vision and Values statements to make excellence, integrity, inclusion, learning and respect real for all who work in the Yale libraries. They also insisted on plans for cross training staff, more participation and involvement of C&T staff on committees, and better training of managers. The Microcosm Group launched a Communication Committee, sponsored the High Performance Organization survey, fostered the Learning Plan and spearheaded a change to eliminate M&PSA and launch LiSA. Due in large part to the efforts and example of the Microcosm Group, the Library is now a much more democratic and participatory organization. The efficiency, good spirit and teamwork of this group are an example to us all.

It's refreshment time after the ceremony.

Ann Okerson cuts the cake while Danuta Nitecki and members
of the Awards Committee watch.

Sharon Forbes pins a corsage on Marcia Romanansky

Bernadette Cioffi is pinning a boutonniere on
Daniel Dollar before the ceremony

Taking a moment to chat from the festivities are Kalee Sprague,
Marsha Garman, and Yue Ji

Left to right: Alice Armstrong, Ellen Ennever, Sandra Koenenn
Laura Johnson, and Tom Saul are enjoying the refreshments

Taking time out to smile for the camera are: Left to right Joan Hunt, Judy Parker
Deborah McArthur, Rebecca Hamilton, and Emma Shepherd