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Infinite Mile Awards, 2009Individual | Team
Communication and Collaboration: Clayton HainsworthNominators describe him as "the lynchpin of the organization", "the one person who is connected to everything and everyone", "the essential resource", "an amazing collaborator", "a tightrope artist" and, "a mind reader". Academic Media Production Services provides a myriad of services in support of MIT programs -- video productions, distance education services, teleconferences, and webcasts. And this individual is involved in every facet of these operations. Solving complex problems, coordinating staff and resources with client needs, and synchronizing with partner universities on the other side of the globe are all in a day's (and night's) work for this person. This individual is the public persona of service. Described as "completely on his game in terms of technology, services, and smart solutions", he educates clients about AMPS services. He figures out what they need, often with obscure information and on short notice. (That's when the mind reading skills are useful.) He plots logistics, coordinates with service units, and guides projects from beginning to end, creating successful outcomes for the client. He is the liaison to Institute providers such as OCW, MIT World, MIT Cable and Conference Services. He is also the point person for the MIT MediaLink radio service which provides media outlets worldwide with access to MIT researchers. And, if all that weren't enough, in addition to his day job, he provides backup support for the Video Production and Distance Education groups, helping to create seamless support for clients. His dedication to that service often has him working long and strange hours to coordinate with partner universities in Singapore. He has fostered a positive team environment within AMPS and established excellent working relationships with clientele throughout MIT. Somehow he manages to maintain his good humor and unflappable disposition in all his interactions. For his dedication and commitment to providing the highest quality products and services; for the energy and determination he brings to his work; and for his outstanding leadership by deed and example, the Libraries 2009 Infinite Mile Award, in the category of Communication and Collaboration, goes to Clayton Hainsworth. Innovation and Creativity: Patsy BaudoinThis award recipient's accomplishments match the category criteria just perfectly.
There once was a set of library materials that was notoriously difficult to browse in Barton. The recent growth of this collection, compliments of a very generous donor, heightened the importance of enhancing users' ability to browse and access these materials. At the same time, a goal of the divisional library that housed this collection was to make use of social networking software as another way to build relationships with the MIT community. Happily, a champion came to the rescue. She saw the convergence of these two goals as an exciting opportunity. She explored her idea, investigated software and developed a project that would exploit Delicious in making the aforementioned collection more searchable and accessible. This librarian articulated a vision and used that vision to engage students and provide leadership to the project. Together with the three students she hired they set parameters for the tagging the Humanities Library DVD film collection and then she turned them loose, with limited guidance and limited resources and limitless creativity. She collaborated with them to develop and present an IAP course that drew attention to the collection. And in the spring semester, the site was made available to the MIT community. The service lives on the Libraries' Beta page, where its usefulness and growth will be monitored. For her innovation and leadership in the creative use of social bookmarking as a means to improve browsing tools for the Libraries' film collection, the Libraries' 2009 Individual Infinite Mile Award, in the category of Innovation and Creativity, goes to Patsy Baudoin.
Results, Outcome and Productivity: Elissa Derby"She did one hell of a job!" This singular line was used to describe the accomplishments of our next recipient and, although accurate, the statement still doesn't seem to do her justice. We all know that Dewey Library is undergoing major renovations while continuing to "remain open and operating as usual". As a result many decisions needed to be made regarding the collections: Which items would stay on-site? Which items would go to storage? How could shelving be rearranged to keep the most items on-site during renovations? Where will everything be located on-site...shelf-by-shelf?! Answering these questions, as well as many others required hours of planning, measuring, calculating, communicating, and on-the-fly problem-solving. This is the type of project that would normally fall to a committee or team...or small but well-trained army. But in Dewey, one person volunteered...yeah, that's right...volunteered to take on these responsibilities single-handedly. Described as "incredibly organized, self-motivated and deadline driven", this individual was said to have gone "above and beyond expectations to get the job done and get it done right." "Above and beyond" included the aforementioned measuring, re-measuring, adjusting hundreds of shelves, keeping Dewey staff informed, creating new signage daily, some more measuring, communicating with Tech Ops and CAMS to ensure proper Barton updates, just a little bit more measuring, coordinating with LSA and creating detailed instructions for the movers. She even gave the movers her home phone number, just in case they ran into problems when they came in at 5:00 am. And yes, they called. And yes, she solved their problems. (Perhaps we should be giving her the Purple Heart!) In addition to this major undertaking she continued to manage stack operations, pull BookPages, conduct searches for missing books and carry out all of her other circulation duties without missing a beat. One nominator said that "her efficiency, organizational skills and old-fashioned work ethic meant that many of us had no concept of exactly how much she was doing." For all the aforementioned work, and all the work we don't even know about, the Libraries' 2009 Infinite Mile Award in the category of Results, Outcome and Productivity, goes to Elissa Derby. Unsung Hero: Jim EgglestonAccording to wiktionary.org, an Unsung Hero is one who does great deeds but receives little or no recognition for them. This may have been the case, but is no longer for this year's recipient of the Unsung Hero award. Over the years, this nominee has transitioned through many roles and departments in the Libraries. Through it all, he has kept an outstanding work ethic and has remained a valuable co-worker who goes about his work without drawing attention to himself. He never says no. He shows versatility and a willingness to do whatever the Libraries ask of him. He has even been known to lug equipment to the nether regions of the MIT campus. He finds a way to turn potentially disruptive and stressful situations into positive experiences for his colleagues. And, in addition to understanding and compassion, he has even been known to offer up chocolate when someone is having a bad day. Nominators wrote glowingly about this award recipient:
He is the very definition of unsung hero. For the consistent and high quality service he provides, for always going above and beyond to solve a problem, for being an invaluable resource to the MIT Libraries, and for doing all this with charm and humor, the Libraries' 2009 Infinite Mile Award, in the category of Unsung Hero, goes to Jim Eggleston.
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