Rita Moss recognized by RUSA BRASS for outstanding contributions to business librarianship

CHICAGO — Rita W. Moss, business and economics librarian and head of the social sciences team, Davis Library, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, is the 2012 recipient of the Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship - an annual honor presented by the Business and Reference Services Section (BRASS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) and sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning.

The award committee selected Moss for her outstanding contributions to business librarianship over more than two decades of professional work in the field. One of her most noteworthy contributions—authorship of the second and third editions of “Strauss’s Handbook of Business Information: A Guide for Librarians, Students and Researchers”—has improved and enhanced the expertise of reference librarians. She has also inspired many future business librarians through her role as a mentor and educator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has shared her expertise with a multitude of colleagues through her active participation in professional organizations, including serving as chair of RUSA BRASS (2008-09).

Moss earned her MSLS from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also holds an MA in Economics and Education from the University College of North Wales. Prior to working at UNC Chapel Hill, she was a business reference librarian at Elon University. In addition to chairing BRASS, she also chaired BRASS’s nominating and vendor relations committees, co-chaired the Business Reference in Academic Libraries Committee and served on RUSA’s nominating and membership committees.

Moss will be honored at the RUSA Awards Reception, scheduled for 5 - 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 24 in the Sequoia South Ballroom E-H at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel as a part of RUSA’s events at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. For more information, visit RUSA’s website or the Annual Conference website.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.