ALCTS announces Best of LRTS Award recipient

Contact: Kristen Ahlen


312-280-5037

For Immediate Release


April 17, 2002

ALCTS announces Best of LRTS Award recipient

Bartley A. Burk, Social Science and Hispanic Bibliographic Access Management team leader at the Hesburgh Library of the University of Notre Dame, and Laura D. Shedenhelm, media archives cataloger of the University of Georgia, are the 2002 Best of
LRTS Award recipients. Presented by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), this award, a citation and $250, is given to the author(s) of the best paper published each year in the official journal of ALCTS,
Library Resources & Technical Services (
LRTS).

Burk and Shedenhelm received the award for their article titled "Book Vendor Records in the OCLC Database: Boon or Bane?" published in
LRTS Volume 45, Number 1.

"The topic and the authors' presentation are significant to both acquisitions and cataloging departments. The article is well-written, interesting, practical and is a logical presentation of an important issue that is a welcome addition to the literature of technical services," noted Wanda Dole, Best of
LRTS Award Committee Chair. "Shedenhelm and Burk explore the impact of vendor records in the OCLC database on the day-to-day operations of cataloging units. Using a 1998 sample of Spanish language, firm-ordered materials, represented by vendor records in OCLC, the authors clearly and concisely address the differences between these records and full-level bibliographic records. Types of errors and error rates are analyzed, the resulting costs in cataloging time are calculated, and suggestions for improvement are offered."

Burk holds an MLIS and bachelors of Science in Business Management with a minor in Economics/Accounting from Brigham Young University. He is currently the rapporteur general for the Seminar of the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM).

Shedenhelm holds an MLS from UCLA and bachelors of Arts in Spanish and Political Science from the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of three other publications and compiled the section on Uruguay for the ALA Government Documents Round Table
Guide to Official Publications of Foreign Countries, 2nd Edition.

The award will be presented on Monday, June 17, 9:30 a.m., at the ALCTS Membership Meeting and President's Program during the 2002 ALA Annual Conference in Atlanta.