91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) names Carlen Ruschoff, director of technical services and strategic initiatives at the University of Maryland as the 2015 recipient of its Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors the memory of Ross Atkinson, a distinguished library leader, author and scholar whose extraordinary service to ALCTS and the library community-at-large serves as a model for those in the field. The citation and monetary award,will be presented at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony on June 27, during the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.

Ruschoff has an extensive record of leadership within ALCTS and 91´«Ã½. She served as president of ALCTS, chaired the Cataloging and Classification Section, chaired the Margaret Mann Citation Jury and served on the planning committee for the ALCTS 50th Anniversary event, “Interactive Futures: A National Conference on the Transformation of Library Collections & Technical Services.”

Within 91´«Ã½, she has served as a member of numerous committees, including the Peter Lyman Memorial/SAGE Scholarship Committee, the 91´«Ã½ Nominating Committee, chair of the 91´«Ã½ Constitution and Bylaws Committee, 91´«Ã½ representative to NISO, and chair of the 91´«Ã½ Scholarships and Study Grants Committee.

Her leadership expands beyond 91´«Ã½ and ALCTS, as evidenced by her roles on the PALINET Executive Committee, chair of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), CRL Collections and Services Advisory Committee and the NISO Standards Committee. As one colleague noted, in her capacity as chair of the PCC, “She immediately recognized the overlap between ALCTS education efforts and those of the PCC and worked to develop successful collaboration between the PCC and ALCTS on these efforts.”

As with her leadership, her scholarship has also been extensive and of great impact. Her publication record spans decades, and in the spirit of Ross Atkinson, exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to technical services and collection management. She holds two editorial roles, one as “Reality Check” column editor for Technicalities and the other as the “Information Standards” feature editor for portal: Libraries and the Academy. Her most recent contribution, a co-authored publication and program for OCLC, “Success Strategies for Electronic Content Discovery and Access: Across-Industry White Paper,” addresses problems with data quality in the content supply chain and gives practical recommendations for improved usage, discovery and access of e-content in libraries.

She has participated in many grant-funded initiatives, including but not limited to two major projects funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: Kuali-Open Library Environment (OLE) Build Project and Collection Building for Web Resources Project. In recognition of her leadership, she was selected to participate in the Senior Fellow Program, a premier executive leadership program sponsored by the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

Ruschoff's long and successful career in technical services administration is impressive. She is an accomplished leader whose tireless dedication, vision and collaborative spirit make her deserving of this lifetime achievement award.

ALCTS is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, metadata, collection management, preservation, electronic and continuing resources. ALCTS is a division of the 91´«Ã½.