Faculty and Staff Accolades (2016-17)

Elizabeth Beckman, Archives & Manuscripts Librarian

  • Session Chair, “Truth and Reconciliation in the Campus Archives,” Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Annapolis, Maryland (October 2016). 
  • Presenter, “Acquisition, Preservation, and Processing the Buchanan Papers,” Celebrating Nobelity: A Buchanan Retrospective Exhibition Opening (October 2016).

Jessica Bowdoin, Head, Access Services

  • Co-Author, “TextSelect Revisited: The Evolution and Success of the Textbook Reserves Program at George Mason University.” Against the Grain vol. 28, no. 5 (December 2016).
  • Awarded 2017 Distinguished Library Faculty Award (April 2017).
  • Member, Resource Sharing Advisory Committee, Washington Research Library Consortium (2016-17).

Rebecca Bramlett, Special Collections Research Services Coordinator

  • Co-Presenter, “Stronger Together: Collaboration in Special Collections Instruction,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).

Kathy Butler, Health Sciences Librarian

  • “Reviews of Science for Science Librarians: CRISPR-Cas9 Revolutionizes Gene Editing” in Science & Technology Libraries, DOI:10.1080/0194262X.2016.1208135 (August 2016).
  • Received Graduate Certificate in Science Communication (December 2016).

Jason Byrd, Head, Information Services

  • Panelist, “Combining Service Points for Greater Impact,” Washington Research Library Consortium Forum (Fall 2016).

Erika Coronado, E-Resources Specialist

  • Recipient, University Libraries’ Library Staff Excellence Award (Fall 2016).

Kimberly A. Edwards, Information Analyst

  • Co-Chair, D.C. ExLibris User Group (2016).
  • Co-Chair, Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, Catalog Management Interest Group (2016).
  • Member, Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, Monographs Board (2016).
  • Member, Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, Planning Committee (2016).
  • Member, Voyager Product Working Group (2016).
  • Member, Library Information Technology Association, Program Planning Committee (2016).
  • Co-List Owner, MarcEdit Listserv (2016).
  • Board Member, Potomac Technical Processing Librarians (2016).

Ian Fairclough, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian

  • Participant, 2016 World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations, Columbus, Ohio (August 2016).

Christal Ferrance, Instructional Design Librarian

  • Co-Presenter, “Data Mining Virtual Reference Chats,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, “Standardizing and Managing Online Tutorials for Improved Learning,” Association of College & Research Libraries, Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, "Assessing the Whole Hog: Virtual Reference Text Mining Analysis for Web Usability", Association of College & Research Libraries, Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (March 2017).

Steven K. Gerber, Music, Theater, and Philosophy Librarian & Adjunct Professor, School of Music

  • Presenter, “Behind the Benign: Contextualizing a Photograph of Girls Playing Recorders” (an interpretation of a 1933 photograph from Mason Libraries’ Special Collections that illustrates musical activities of Hitler Youth), Southeast Music Library Association Annual Meeting, Duke University (October 2016).
  • Along with Dr. Jesse Guessford, School of Music, awarded a $25,000 grant from Mason’s Students-As-Scholars program (December 2016). In Summer 2017, Gerber and Guessford will hire and mentor four undergraduate music researchers to create open-access performing editions of 18th- and 19th-century musical manuscripts at the Library of Congress.
  • Editor, Johan Arnold Dahmen: Three Cello Sonatas, A-R Editions (February 2017). Dahmen was a Dutch-born orchestral cellist active in London from 1792 to 1812, and the edition is based on the holograph manuscript held in Mason Libraries' Special Collections Research Center.
  • Moderator, "Gilbert and Sullivan: Nineteenth Century Opera for Twenty-first Century Audiences," A Celebration of Gilbert & Sullivan, George Mason University (April 2017).

Peggy Griesinger, Metadata Librarian

  • “Process history metadata for time-based media artworks at the Museum of Modern Art, New York,” Journal of Digital Media Management vol 4. no. 4 (2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “What Makes a Digital Steward: A Competency Profile Based on The National Digital Stewardship Residencies,” 13th International Conference on Digital Preservation, IPRES 2016, Bern, Switzerland (October 2016).
  • Organizer and Presenter, National Digital Stewardship Residency Symposium, Library of Congress (April 2017).
  • Presenter, Collections as Data Hack to Learn event, Library of Congress (May 2017).
  • Presenter, Building Successful Digital Programs at Small Institutions Pre-Conference Workshop, ALA Annual Conference (June 2017).

Stephanie Grimm, Art and Art History Librarian

Katara Hofmann, Reference, Research and Instruction Specialist

  • Recipient, University Libraries’ Library Staff Excellence Award (Spring 2017).

Claudia Holland, Scholarly Communications and Copyright Officer

Izzie Hunsburger, Reference, Instruction and Technology Specialist

  • Awarded Association of College & Research Libraries 2017 Support Staff Scholarship to attend ACRL Conference (March 2017).

Joi Jackson, Online Learning Library Specialist

  • Awarded Association of College & Research Libraries 2017 Support Staff Scholarship to attend ACRL Conference (March 2017).

Madeline Kelly, Head, Collection Development

  • Book review, Library Management in Disruptive Times. Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 42, Issue 4 (July 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “Monographic Collections Analysis Webinar” for Virtual Library of Virginia members on the results of a multi-year monographic shared collection analysis (September 2016).
  • Chair, VIVA RFT Committee for E-Book Acquisitions (May–October, 2016)
  • Presenter, “VIVA Skills Inventory & Directory of Expertise,” Virtual Library of Virginia Annual User Group Meeting (October 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “Valuing Consortial Resources: A Framework for Assessment,” Charleston Library Conference on the VIVA Value Metric Task Force and Development of Holistic Assessment Grids for Evaluating Consortial E-Resources (November 2016).
  • Co-Author, “TextSelect Revisited: The Evolution and Success of the Textbook Reserves Program at George Mason University.” Against the Grain vol. 28, no. 5 (December 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “Collections Assessment: Developing Sustainable Programs and Projects”, Pre-conference workshop, NASIG Annual Conference (June 2017).

Maoria Kirker, Instruction and Assessment Coordinator

  • Chair of ACRL’s Instruction Section Awards Committee (July 2016 – June 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, “Librarian-Instructor Partnerships: Empowering Students to Share their Research with the Community,” 8th Annual Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference, Fairfax, Virginia (September 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “One-Minute Papers: Acclimating Librarians to Student Learning Assessment in Library Instruction,” Poster Session, Association of Research Libraries’ Library Assessment Conference, Arlington, Virginia (November 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, "Problem Based Learning for Beginners: From Gen Ed to Capstone," ACRL Annual Conference (March 2017).
  • Co-Author, "Carving Out a Space: Ambiguity and Librarian Teacher Identity in the Academy," The Self as Subject: Autoethnographic Research into Identity, Culture, and Academic Librarianship (2017).

Denise Klasen-Lopez, Media and Online Services Specialist

  • Awarded Association of College & Research Libraries 2017 Support Staff Scholarship to attend ACRL Conference (March 2017).

Margaret Lam, Physical Sciences and STEM Data Librarian

  • Treasurer, Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics Division, Special Libraries Association (January 2016-December 2017).
  • Awarded ACRL 2017 Mid-career Librarian Scholarship to attend ACRL Conference (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, “Data Mining Virtual Reference Chats,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, "Assessing the Whole Hog: Virtual Reference Text Mining Analysis for Web Usability", Association of College & Research Libraries, Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (March 2017).

Janna Mattson, Instructional and Social Sciences Librarian

Taneisha Mazyck, Stacks Manager/Student Supervisor

  • Recipient, George Mason University’s Exceptional Support Award (November 2016).

Helen McManus, Public Policy, Government, and International Affairs Librarian

  • Co-Presenter, “Stronger Together: Collaboration in Special Collections Instruction,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).

George D. Oberle, History Librarian

  • Completed PhD dissertation, Institutionalizing the Information Revolution: Debates over Knowledge Institutions in the Early American Republic (2016).
  • Book Review, Richards, Robert J., and Lorraine Daston, eds. Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty : Reflections on a Science Classic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016, in CHOICE Vol. 54 no. 2 (October 2016).
  • Book Review, Möllers, Nina, and Bryan Dewalt, eds. Objects in Motion: Globalizing Technology, Artefacts. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2016, in CHOICE vol. 54 no. 5 (January 2017).
  • Appointed as University Affiliate Faculty, Department of History and Art History, George Mason University (February 2017).

Genya O’Gara, Associate Director, Virtual Library of Virginia

  • Co-Author, “Sharing the Spotlight: Open Access Publishing and Undergraduate Research,” in K. Smith and K. Dickson (Eds.), Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Implementation. Rowan Littlefield (2016).
  • Co-Author, “Changing the Conversation: Using Agile Approaches to Develop and Assess Collections Holistically,” Charleston Conference 2015 Proceedings (2016).
  • Co-Author, “The Evolution of Collaborative Collection Development within a Library Consortium: Data Analysis Applied in a Cultural Context,” in B. Doherty (Ed.), Space and Organizational Considerations in Academic Library Partnerships and Collaborations. IGI Global (2016).
  • Book Review, Edward M. Corrado and Heather Lea Moulaison’s Digital Preservation for Libraries, Archives, & Museums in Archival Issues (2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “An Open Textbook Approach to OER: VIVA and The Open Textbook Network,” VLA Annual Conference (October 2016).
  • Presenter, “The Digital Public Library of America and the Commonwealth: Exploring Options for a Virginia Service Hub,” VLA Annual Conference (October 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “Valuing Consortial Resources: A Framework for Assessment,” Charleston Library Conference on the VIVA Value Metric Task Force and Development of Holistic Assessment Grids for Evaluating Consortial E-Resources (November 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “Determining Value: The Development of Evaluation Metrics for Shared Content,” ACRL Conference (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, “Collections Assessment: Developing Sustainable Programs and Projects”, Pre-conference workshop, NASIG Annual Conference (June 2017).

Mary K. Oberlies, Conflict and Peace Studies Librarian

  • Secretary, Politics, Policy and International Relations Section, ACRL (2017-19).
  • Chair, Communications & Publications Committee, Politics, Policy and International Relations Section, ACRL (2017-19).
  • Co-Presenter, "Problem Based Learning for Beginners: From Gen Ed to Capstone," ACRL Annual Conference (March 2017).
  • Co-Author, "Carving Out a Space: Ambiguity and Librarian Teacher Identity in the Academy," The Self as Subject: Autoethnographic Research into Identity, Culture, and Academic Librarianship (2017).

Anne Osterman, Director, Virtual Library of Virginia

  • Co-Author, “The Evolution of Collaborative Collection Development within a Library Consortium: Data Analysis Applied in a Cultural Context,” in B. Doherty (Ed.), Space and Organizational Considerations in Academic Library Partnerships and Collaborations. IGI Global (2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “An Open Textbook Approach to OER: VIVA and The Open Textbook Network,” VLA Annual Conference (October 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “COUNTER: Consistency, Clarity, Simplification and Continuous Maintenance,” Charleston Conference (November 2016).
  • Co-Presenter, “COUNTER Bootcamp: A Preconference about COUNTER Reports, SUSHI, and Usage Analysis,” ACRL Conference (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, “Determining Value: The Development of Evaluation Metrics for Shared Content,” ACRL Conference (March 2017).

Michelle Polchow, Electronic Resources Librarian

  • Secretary, Potomac Technical Processing Librarians (2015-17).
  • Guest Lecturer, “Licensing Library Resources: Compliance, Negotiation and Adaption in Academia,” Copyright and Licensing Institute, Department of Library and Information Science, Catholic University of America (July 2016). 
  • Book Review, James Powell and Matthew Hopkins’ A Librarian’s Guide to Graphs, Data and the Semantic Web, in Against the Grain (September 2016).
  • Member, Data Task Force, Washington Research Library Consortium (2016-17).
  • Co-Presenter, “Data Mining Virtual Reference Chats,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, "Assessing the Whole Hog: Virtual Reference Text Mining Analysis for Web Usability", Association of College & Research Libraries, Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (March 2017).
  • Panelist, "Proven Strategies for Language Learning," EBSCO's Rosetta Stone Library Solutions (May 2017).

Beth Roszkowski, Team Lead Social Sciences & Head, Arlington Campus Library

  • Member, Nominating Committee, University Libraries Section, American Library Association (2016-17).
  • Co-Chair, Academic Outreach Committee, University Libraries Section, American Library Association (2016-18).
  • Member, Executive Committee, University Libraries Section, American Library Association (2016-18).
  • Co-Presenter, “Unlocking Staff Potential: A New Approach to Training and Development,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).
  • Co-Presenter, “Unlocking Staff Potential: A New Approach to Training and Development,” Washington Research Library Consortium Annual Meeting (March 2017).

Stephanie Smith, Collection Development Assessment Specialist

  • Recipient, George Mason University’s Exceptional Support Award (November 2016).

Jen Stevens, Team Lead, Arts and Humanities

  • Member, ACRL Literatures in English Section Membership Committee (2016).
  • Book Review, Spaces for Reading in Later Medieval England, CHOICE #54-1517 (December 2016).
  • Invited to serve as a Field Bibliographer for the MLA International Bibliography. The Modern Language Association (MLA) is the leading professional and scholarly organization for literature scholars; both teaching faculty and librarians serve as Field Bibliographers for its MLA International Bibliography database.

Robert L. Vay, Archivist

  • Guide, History Tour of Fairfax Campus for Communication and Marketing Division (October 2016)
  • Presenter, “Revolutionary Patriots: Mason’s Classes of 1968-1986,” School of Business Alumni/Faculty Holiday Reception (December 2016).
  • Presenter, "66 Years in 20 Minutes: A History of George Mason University," Fr. Rosemary Zagarri's HNRS 240 class "George Mason in Memory and in History" (December 2016).
  • Curator, “Chalkboards to Smartboards: Public Schools in the County of Fairfax and Fairfax City,” Fairfax Museum & Visitor Center (March–July 2017).

Jib Vititpongs, Cataloger

  • Recipient, University Libraries’ Library Staff Excellence Award (Spring 2017).

John W. Warren, Director, Mason Publishing/George Mason University Press

Patricia West, Head, Gateway Library

Aaron M. Wilson, Ordering Coordinator, Resource and Collection Management Services

  • Recipient, 2017 Young Alumnus of the Year, Washington Adventist University Alumni Association (April 2017).

John Zenelis, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian

  • Member, Substantive Change Committee – University of Houston, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (September 2016).
  • Chair, Nominating Committee, Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (2016).
  • Chair, Nominating Committee, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia – Library Advisory Committee (2017).

The Special Collections Research Center team created the following exhibits in 2016-2017:

  • Adventures with Edie: Discovering the Edith McChesney Kerr Photographs (June-August, 2016).
  • C-SPAN: Bringing Politics to the People (August–October 2016). 
  • Celebrating Nobelity: Thirty Years Later (October 2016–February 2017).