Sally W. Kalin, head of the Computer-Based Resources & Services Team, Pennsylvania State University in University Park, is the 1994 recipient of the Reference and Adult Services Division (RASD) Reference Service Press Award.
The award, $1,000 donated by Reference Service Press, is given to the author of the most outstanding article published in RQ, RASD's quarterly journal, during the preceding two volume years.
Kalin received the award for "Support Services for Remote Users of Online Public Access Catalogs" that appeared in RQ, volume 31, number 2, Winter, 1991, pages 197-213. Want to read this award-winning article online? Click here.
"Sally Kalin's article focuses on the 'invisible users' of online library resources who do not have access to the librarians at the reference desk when connecting to an OPAC from their homes or offices," said Gary M. Klein, chair of the Reference Service Press Award Committee. "This well-written, well-researched article raises concerns and offers suggestions from the user's perspective and touches all types of libraries offering off-site access to electronic resources. The committee was pleased to see this article address the needs of the invisible users of a library since their numbers are rapidly growing as the Internet reaches out around the world."
Kalin has been on the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University Libraries since 1978. She currently serves as a member of the library's Computer Based Resources and Services Team. Kalin took a sabbatical in 1989-90 to study remote users of online catalogs. She received a grant from the Council of Library Resources for the project.
Her publications include a paper delivered at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science (ASIS), a report to the Council on Library Resources and articles published in Database and Library Trends journals. Kalin has an extensive record of conference presentations, professional journals, and book chapters. She served as editor of the "Core Collections" column for RSR: Reference Services Review from 1980-89 and has been an active member of several RASD committees since 1980.
Kalin has a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree in library science from the University of Pittsburgh.
