Vanderbilt University Librarian Paul M. Gherman has been named the 2005
winner of the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. Gherman will receive
$2,000 and a citation during the Amercian Library Association Annual
Conference in Chicago. It will be presented at the Library
Administration and Management Association President‘s Program on June
26 at 1:30 p.m.
Named in honor of one of the pioneers of library automation, the
Atkinson Award recognizes an academic librarian who has made
significant contributions in the area of library automation or
management and has made notable improvements in library services or
research.
“Throughout his career as a librarian, Paul Gherman has been an
innovator and a risk taker,” said James L. Mullins, award committee
chair. “From Virginia Tech to Kenyon College to Vanderbilt, Paul was
always on the cutting edge in his exploration of ideas and
opportunities on how to effectively utilize technology to provide
better access to information. Without exception, the profession adopted
his concepts.
“In the late 1980‘s, Paul was instrumental, while at Virginia Tech, in
developing the Scholarly Communications Project, a forerunner to
publishing on the Internet,” said Mullins. “While at Virginia Tech, he
was also a leader in the Blacksburg Electronic Village Project, a
precursor to the World Wide Web. In 1999, Paul wrote a seminal article
that outlined a new publishing model that has since morphed into the
open publishing initiative. Most recently at Vanderbilt, Paul has been
instrumental in advocating and assessing the issues that surround ‘a
virtual storage collection.‘ If put into practice, libraries could week
collections of rarely used items, yet be assured that an archive copy
would be held permanently in a designated ‘repository.‘”
“I am deeply honored to received the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award
and join the ranks of outstanding library leaders who were honored in
the past,” said Gherman.
Before becoming university librarian at Vanderbilt University in 1996,
Gherman was the director of libraries at Kenyon College (1992-96),
university librarian at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University (1985-92), assistant director for administrative services at
Iowa State University (1977-85), personnel officer of the University
Libraries at The Pennsylvania State University (1972-74), and acting
head of the Humanities Division at Wayne State University (1971-72).
Gherman received his M.A.L.S. from the University of Michigan and earned his B.A. from Wayne State University.
The Hugh C. Atkinson Award is jointly sponsored by four divisions of
the American Library Association: the Association of College and
Research Libraries, Library Administration and Management Association,
Library and Information Technology Association and the Association for
Library Collections and Technical Services. The award is funded from an
endowment established to honor Hugh C. Atkinson. Donations to the
endowment may be sent to Megan Bielefeld, 50 East Huron St., Chicago,
Ill. 60611.
Media contacts: Megan Bielefeld, (312) 280-2514
mbielefeld@ala.org
Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu