The winner of the 2009 Reference Service Press Award is Pixey Ann Mosley, the head of collection support services at Texas A&M University Libraries. She was awarded the $2,500 prize for her article "Assessing User Interactions at the Desk nearest the Front Door," which was published in Reference & User Services Quarterly (v. 47, no. 2).
Mosley is the recipient of the 23rd annual Reference Service Press Award, which was established to recognize the most outstanding article published in the Reference and User Services Association's membership journal, Reference & User Services Quarterly, during the preceding two volume years. Criteria used to selected the award-winning article include: originality, timeliness, rigor of research, quality of writing, and relevance to the association's areas of interest and concern.
The 2009 winning article was selected because the "topic is very timely" and the "article is thought-provoking, informative, original, and well-written," according to Judy Druse, chair of the award's selection committee. She reports that many academic librarians have or have plans to consolidate service points into one desk close to the front door of the library" and this article will help them identify the "design, signage, staffing, and training issues to consider in such a move."
In addition, Druse points out, the "article goes beyond what others only hypothesize. The author gathered qualitative data on various questions asked at the desk closet to the door [at Texas A&M University's Evans Library], recorded the types of questions asked and the staff responses, and determined whether users were being served effectively and their expectations being met."
This $2,500 award is funded by Reference Service Press, a library-oriented reference book publishing company specializing in the development of financial aid resources. Its president, Gail Schlachter, has been active in the Reference and User Services Association for more than three decades, serving over the years as the Reference Book Editor of RQ, (the predecessor of Reference & User Services Quarterly), the Editor-in-Chief of Reference & User Services Quarterly, and the President of the association. In appreciation for the opportunity to serve in these positions, she established this annual award in 1986.
Source: Reference and User Services Association Media Profile, 2009.
