Library staff recognised with awards

Victoria University Library staff were recognised at the 2019 Library Awards and the Vice-Chancellor's Awards 2019.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2019 Library Awards for their outstanding contribution, service and innovation, and thank you to VU staff and students for submitting nominations to recognise Library staff for their outstanding contribution or service.

Congratulations to the Library teams who received citations at the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards 2019 for Professional Services and Innovation and for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (Higher Education).

2019 Library Awards recipients

Outstanding contribution award

Winner: Pam Abalo, College Librarian (Arts & Education)

This award recognises the sustained contribution that Library individuals or work groups make to VU learning, teaching or research support, or to a specific project.

Comments for nomination: “Pam is the epitome of the quiet achiever…It is time she was recognised for her work” and "Pam is an asset who should be recognised and rewarded for her outstanding service."

Service award

Winner: Sarah Farrugia

This award recognises outstanding customer service provided by an individual or team to users of the Library.

Comments for nomination: “Sarah has demonstrated outstanding support...her role can easily be ignored since she is a 'quiet achiever'."

Innovation award

Winners: Dana Kuljanin and Sarika Singh

This award, via nominations by VU Library staff, recognises achievements in generating ideas, being entrepreneurial, developing workplace relationships and turning ideas into the introduction, or improvement, of a university process, product or service.

Comments for nomination: “Through the diverse skills and technical ‘know-how’ of learning design, Sarika and Dana are able to introduce different ways of designing, developing and presenting library learning for students and researchers. This learning also takes place through embedded classes and study and course essentials.”

Vice-Chancellor’s Awards 2019

Citation for Professional Services and Innovation

VU EasyRef Project Team: Pam Abalo, Emeka Anele, Lou Connell, Linda Forbes, Julie Gardner, Murray Greenway, Barbara Gutthann, Sally Hand, Julie Handford, Debra Hutchinson, Dana Kuljanin, Cindy Mohammad, Jennifer Murphy, Vien Nguyen, Suzanne Poliness, Kirstin Scholz, Sarika Singh, Meg Weller and Yimin Zeng.

VU EasyRef is an easy-to-use mobile, interactive referencing tool that leads students through choices of referencing style, format type and author details, to in-text citation and reference list examples.

The Panel commented: "The tool was a great addition to the Library suite of products and VU mobile app with clear and accessible design features and that the application contained strong evidence of engagement and innovation."

Citation for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (Higher Education)

Anatomy Learning and Teaching Team (Library, Connected Learning and First Year College): Dr Michael Burke, Linda Forbes, Samuel Howe, Iwona Janius, Dr Rudi Klein, Suzanne Poliness, Kirstin Scholz, Sarika Singh, Dr Puspha Sinnayah, Dr Sonia Wilkie and Ghaith Zakaria.

The team members collaborated to integrate interactive online anatomy resources into First Year College units to facilitate active learning and authentic assessment and enhance student learning and engagement in the study of anatomy.

The Panel commented: "The application was a great example of interdepartmental collaboration. Very positive shift in learning for learning rather than assessment for learning."