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Infinite Mile Awards, 2006Individual | Team
Innovation and Creativity: Ask Us! Central
You may remember the popular version of Archimedes' passage "Give
me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move the world." Well,
the MIT Libraries are not the whole world but moving them is quite a
feat. This team has found its place to stand and has successfully used
technology and smarts to leverage staff expertise in building a twenty-first
century service that creatively and efficiently serves our users. The
knowledge of these team members encompasses many different subject areas,
as well as circulation and processing services. Members have not only
sharpened their expertise and shared their wisdom with colleagues, but
have also familiarized themselves with subjects previously unknown to
them. They use instant messaging to contact one another about a problem,
to get help, or to start the referral process. These movers and shakers
have mastered their primary technological lever. This team is extremely
committed to providing high level service in a very timely fashion. While
their service advertises next-day response, responses often come within
minutes. This does not go unnoticed by patrons who often respond with "thanks
for such a quick reply!" The team's work is not without an element
of risk: responses to patrons' questions are saved for all to see and
comment on. While this was certainly something to get used to, the team
has learned to appreciate constructive criticism and value the input
of teammates. A group of librarians analyzed the work of the team last
year to see if questions, which are sometimes quite complex, were being
answered correctly. Such an analysis is noteworthy because it does not
often happen in traditional reference. The team was found to have a 95%
accuracy rate. For their accuracy, their responsiveness and their work
in creating and providing a top-notch quality service, the Libraries’ 2006
Infinite Mile Team Award in the category of Innovation and Creativity
goes to ASK US! Central - Mary Ellen Carter, Peter Cohn, Darcy
Duke, Millicent Gaskell, Remlee Green, Katie Harris, Jennifer Harter,
Stephanie Hartman, Lisa Horowitz, Georgiana McReynolds, Anita Perkins,
and Stephen Skuce. Communication and Collaboration: Barker Service Team - Tracy Gabridge, Stephanie Hartman, Denise O’Malley.
Have you ever worked on a project that you secretly hoped someone else would get to first? The kind of project that is so big that it seems like it will “die under its own weight”? Well, when one ambitious group realized that they were up against one of these projects, they didn’t wait for others to take the lead. Instead, they strategically plotted the path of least resistance and have been chipping away at this mountain of work ever since! By first prioritizing the needs of colleagues, this team has been able to craft training sessions into digestible servings. They successfully involve the entire library in their laborious mission by recruiting the expertise of colleagues to draft documentation and then to teach their respective skills to the rest of the staff. In the words of one nominator, this team’s “spirit of collaboration is the reason why potentially dull training sessions are stress-free and actually fun!” They have ignored the skeptics who question whether 118 public service skills can really be called “core” and whether 118 competencies can actually be documented for use by service desk staff. As a result, they have made enormous progress in developing accurate descriptions of procedures and services for staff members to utilize in effectively carrying out service desk responsibilities. Though training sessions began only nine months ago, 96 of the 118 skills have already been documented, printed, hole-punched and organized into purple binders that were handed out in session one. And to the benefit of the public service staff throughout the Libraries, their documentation for each core competency lives on turnpike, just waiting to be adapted. For enthusiastically tackling core competency training and the quagmire that is documentation, the Libraries’ 2006 Infinite Mile Team Award in the category of Communication & Collaboration goes to the Barker Service Team - Tracy Gabridge, Stephanie Hartman, Denise O’Malley. Results, Outcomes, and Productivity: Dewey Monograph Storage Team
Here is a scenario you may find familiar: Your library’s collection
has outgrown its space. Stacks are overfilled and you had to designate
overflow shelving, which is now full too. You start shelving on book
trucks. Patrons can’t find books. You are facing a crisis. But
who will tackle the job? This team bravely stepped up to the challenge.
They organized the project into stages and then, like an Olympic relay
team, they worked together seamlessly to complete each leg of the race.
The first team member determined retention parameters, generated holdings
reports and spent months reviewing the reports to determine storage candidates.
The “baton” was passed to another team member who coordinated
the flagging of books and led the search initiative to locate missing
items. This was no small task considering some 35,000 items were originally
marked for transfer. The next team member took off as soon as the flags
were in sight, working as the primary coordinator for storage, training
employees in proper procedures for sending books to the off campus collection,
and using investigative skills to solve various problems that cropped
up along the way. Another team member, in addition to providing assistance
with searching and flagging, processed a significant number of the items
for storage, keeping breakneck pace as the finish line came into sight.
This team removed 33,000 volumes from the shelves – sending 30,000
volumes to storage and withdrawing another 3,000 from the collection.
Their efforts made an enormous impact on their library. Their nominators
said, “We have gone from totally overcrowded shelves...to stacks
with some growth space. Access to [collections on the second floor] has
improved dramatically. It is also noteworthy that all this work was done
in addition to [their] regular workload.” The gold medal and the
Libraries’ 2006 Infinite Mile Team Award in the category of Results,
Outcome and Productivity goes to the Dewey Monograph Storage Team - Elissa
Derby, Robert Kehner and Amy Martin. Community: Original Rewards and Recognition Design Team
You may not know or remember that we haven’t always had a day like this. A day set aside for celebrating our staff and recognizing the contributions of our peers. The Rewards and Recognition Program began in 2001. And every year since then, individuals and teams across the Libraries have been acknowledged and rewarded for “going the extra mile” as part of the Infinite Mile Program. Besides the annual Infinite Mile Awards, the opportunity also exists for us to frequently thank our co-workers for their valuable contributions, using “thank you” notes that also serve as entries into the monthly Spot Award drawing. Some 10,000 “thank you’s” have been sent out and 240 names have been drawn for Spot Awards since that program began. The recognition process does not happen of its own accord. Each year a group of previous year Infinite Mile awardees take on the task of coordinating the coming year’s program – soliciting nominations, selecting awardees, planning the luncheon, and managing the spot drawings. “Previous year awardees?” you say. What then of the first year? What of the “Big Bang” of the program? Once, after one of his lectures, Thomas Huxley was challenged by a woman who expressed her belief that, rather than spinning in space, the world rested on the back of a large turtle. Huxley asked where the turtle stood. She replied, “on the back of a larger turtle.” As Huxley began to question her further she said, “Oh, you can’t fool me. It’s turtles all the way down.” The foundation turtles of the Libraries’ R&R program is the small group who, beginning in the Fall of 2000, created the self-perpetuating process that helps us acknowledge the hard work and exceptional achievements of our peers, co-workers, and colleagues. For creating an enduring, Institute-recognized program that continues to foster good will across the system, the Libraries’ 2006 Infinite Mile Team Award in the category of Community goes to the Original Rewards and Recognition Design Team – Robin Deadrick, Michael Leininger, Silvia Mejia-Suarez, and Christine Quirion. |
