Interlibrary Loans and Document Delivery team wins 2014-15 Principal’s Award

McGill Library’s Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery has been named as one of the winners of the prestigious 2014-15 Principal’s Award for Administrative and Support Staff (Team Projects), honouring their customer and community service, quality of work, innovation, teamwork and sustainability.

The annual awards celebrates the tireless and exceptional efforts of McGill's administrative and support staff in five separate categories: Management (Managers and Professionals), Clerical, Technical and Library Assistants, Trades and Services and Team Projects.

Interlibrary and Document Delivery’s six-member team of Barbora Boronell, Cheryl Smeall, Elizabeth Dunkley, Francisco Uribe, Maria de Souza and Patricia Nellissen, who range in experience from less than a year to nearly four decades, will receive the award during McGill’s Fall convocation ceremony on November 10, 2015.

Frequently acclaimed in Library feedback initiatives, Interlibrary and Document Delivery plays an integral support role not only in McGill’s Academic Mission, but in the provincial, national and global collective knowledge, as well.

The team works to provide McGill students, faculty and staff with requested documents from institutions in Quebec, Canada and around the world. In turn, the team members reciprocate by lending, scanning and digitizing McGill’s collections, supporting research at external institutions. To achieve these goals, the Interlibrary and Document Delivery works in close collaboration with many individuals and teams in every branch, department and service of the Library.

As technology evolves, the team’s services have become even more vital to McGill users. In 2014-15, the team handled an all-time record 35,000 requests, covering a broad range of disciplines, formats, languages and eras. In May 2014, it instituted a new service for McGill users to request scans of journal articles and book chapters from McGill’s collections to be sent to them via email.

“The team is extremely cognizant that their work is essential to the success of our scholars, saves their time and therefore provides a competitive advantage. Speed, accuracy, efficiency and a knowledge of multiple information systems and tools, as well as the patience and courtesy required for a large amount of customer contact, particular in Quebec, are exemplified by all members of the team,” said Valerie Mayman, LibrarianCoordinator for Interlibrary Loans and Document Delivery.

The award also includes a $5,000 stipend to be divided according to the team’s wishes.

For a full list of winners and nominees, please visit http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2015/09/superior-staff-members-celebrated/.

Image caption: 2015 winners of the Principal’s Awards for Administrative and Support Staff with Principal Fortier.