2008 Librarian of the Year

Patti Caravello

UCLA Faculty Center

May 1, 2008

Remarks by Julie Graham and Lise Snyder; presented by Lise Snyder

*Much of the following remarks are taken from the nominating letters of support.

UCLA Librarians are among the most innovative, creative, and committed librarians in the profession. Each of us brings special and unique talents to our work which serves to make the UCLA Library the success it is.

The LAUC-LA Librarian of the year Award was established in 1993 to recognize excellence in librarianship, particularly as it enhances library service and furthers the teaching and research mission of UCLA. The recipient must also embody one or more of the following qualities: creativity, innovation, intellectual or moral courage, leadership, and scholarship.

This year’s recipient was chosen from a group of six exceptional candidates with a wide range of remarkable accomplishments. We are delighted to announce that the 2008 Librarian of the Year Award goes to Patti Caravello for her leadership as Director of the UCLA Information Literacy Program and her outstanding work and significant achievements in developing information literacy instruction programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and defining information literacy standards in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

Given Patti’s commitment to information literacy throughout her career, it was no surprise that she took an active role in the UCLA Library Information Literacy Initiative when it was launched in 2002. Among many other activities, Patti co-chaired the “Sociology Project,” the first successful effort at UCLA to develop and mount sequential information literacy instruction within the curriculum of a department. As part of this project, she was instrumental in developing and co-teaching a one-unit research course for upper-division students.

In 2005, shortly after the Information Literacy Initiative became a Program, Patti was appointed its first Director. Under Patti’s leadership, the Program has flourished, gaining momentum and establishing itself firmly within the UCLA community. The Information Literacy Program has developed a clear mission and direction, offered ground-breaking programs and developed active working groups that invite and promote collaboration with other campus partners and share the innovative information literacy materials and services developed by UCLA librarians. As one nomination stated, “Since Patti was appointed Director, the Information Literacy Program and the UCLA Library have made great strides in raising consciousness on campus about what information literacy is and its significance.”

In 2006/2007, Patti successfully developed a proposal for an information literacy program for faculty. When she and Sarah Watstein presented the proposal to Vice Provost, Judi Smith, they were at once invited to participate in the first annual “Celebrating Undergraduate Education” week at UCLA, in fall 2007. The Information Literacy Program’s symposium, “A Competitive Edge in the Information Society” (http://www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/celebrate/abstracts.html#edge) featured a panel of faculty and librarians showcasing collaborations and projects that enhance undergraduates’ information skills and understanding of the scholarly process. The program encouraged faculty to learn about innovative approaches and to seek assistance with instructional development from librarians. Regarding this event one letter of nomination stated “From strategic coordination of the symposium that began in March 2007 through the stage of follow-up after the event, she was the leading force that made it happen.”

Patti’s own work with the Anthropology Department’s Undergraduate Honors Program further exemplifies successful collaboration with faculty. Her work with Professors Alan Johnson, Linda Garro, and Professor Emeritus Peter Hammond goes far beyond the traditional one-shot; she participates in the upper division seminars as a co-instructor developing curriculum, grading assignments and teaching throughout the quarter.

Information literacy instruction and standards have traditionally focused on undergraduates. While Patti has strongly supported this focus, she has also championed the importance of recognizing and addressing the information literacy needs of graduate students. She has significantly furthered this goal through her work on expanding UCLA’s graduate level information literacy programs and the development of graduate information competencies to guide the work of librarians both at UCLA and nationally.

In collaboration with Dean Enku Gelaye and the Office of the Dean of Students, she helped develop a workshop on avoiding plagiarism offered in the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program in 2006. This evolved into a workshop on “Citation and Academic Integrity,” that is now offered at UCLA’s New Graduate Student Orientation each Fall, at the Bunche Center Summer Humanities Institute and as part of the Graduate Writing Center’s quarterly seminars. Patti’s ongoing work with both the Graduate Student Resource Center and the Graduate Writing Center has led to very productive collaborations between them and a number of UCLA librarians. The end result has been the development of a wide variety of workshops for graduate students including ones on finding journal articles by academic area, advanced use of EndNote and data and statistics, and the topics of negotiating publishers’ contracts, copyright and permissions issues and electronic publications.

As Chair of the Collections, Research, and Instructional Services (CRIS) Information Literacy Functional Area Team, Patti led the team in the development of the document “Information Proficiency at UCLA: Graduate Student Competencies in the Social Sciences & Humanities.” Through her enthusiasm and mentoring she inspired many of her CRIS colleagues to see information literacy “as a broader vision of teaching and liaison activities with campus departments, and to enhance their abilities and to become active in campus-wide IL efforts.”

Patti’s work on both undergraduate and graduate student information competencies also informed her work as a member of the Association of College and Research Libraries Anthropology and Sociology Section’s (ACRL ANSS) Instruction and Information Literacy Task Force on Information Literacy Standards. Patti and her task force colleagues worked tirelessly for over two years to develop and edit “Information Literacy Standards for Anthropology and Sociology Students.” The process included reviewing the literature, sharing drafts of the standards with Sociology and Anthropology faculty, and working closely with members of the American Sociological Association and the American Anthropological Association. The draft standards were endorsed by the American Sociological Association in 2006, were approved by ACRL in January 2008, and are available via the ACRL website (http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/anthro_soc_standards.cfm).

Additionally, the standards are slated for publication in the June 2008 issue of C&RL News. The co-chairs of the task force both consider Patti the primary author of these standards and credit the success of their communications with professional Anthropology and Sociology organizations, faculty and librarians to Patti’s knowledge, organizational skills, focus, leadership and sharp editorial eye.