Awards for Excellence
Awards for Excellence
Thomas PetersTAP Information Systems, Missouri, USALori BellMid-Illinois Talking Book Center, Illinois, USASharon RudaIllinois State Library, Illinois, USAandDiana Brawley SussmanSouthern Illinois Talking Book Center, Illinois, USA
are the recipients of the Journal's Outstanding Paper Award for Excellence for their paper
"Info eyes: a virtual reference service for the visually impaired"
which appeared in Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 21 No. 6, 2004
Thomas Peters is the founder of TAP Information Services(www.tapinformation.com), which provides services supporting libraries,consortia, government agencies, publishers, and other information-intensive organizations. He has worked previously on the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC, the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago), Western Illinois University in Macomb, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Minnesota State University at Mankato, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City. As an undergraduate student at Grinnell College he majored in English and philosophy. His MLS is from the University of Iowa. His second Master's degree (in English) was completed at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. His library experience includes reference service, library instruction, collection management, and administration.
Lori Bell is Director of the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center located in East Peoria and Quincy, Illinois. The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center is administered by the Alliance Library System and is part of a state-wide network of libraries serving the print-impaired, which is coordinated by the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service. Lori Bell has worked on a variety of virtual reference projects and services since 2000.
Sharon Ruda is an Associate Director of the Illinois State Library. She coordinates the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service and works closely with the four talking book centers located in Illinois. Before working with library service for the print-disabled, she was Coordinator of Policy and Planning with the Chicago Public Library and Assistant Director of the DuPage Library System in Geneva, Illinois.
Diana Brawley Sussman is Director of the Southern Illinois Talking Book Center in Carterville, Illinois. The Southern Illinois Talking Book Center is administered by the Shawnee Library System and is part of a state-wide network of libraries serving the print-impaired, which is coordinated by the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service. Diana Brawley Sussman's writing has appeared in the book Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out (McFarland & Company, 2003), and elsewhere.
