Margaret Mann Citation honors Robert Wolven
Contact: Charles Wilt
Executive Director, ALCTS
312-280-5030
cwilt@ala.org
For Immediate Release
March 6, 2007
Margaret Mann Citation honors Robert Wolven
CHICAGO—The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is pleased to announce Robert Wolven, director of library systems and bibliographic control at Columbia University, New York, is the recipient of the 2007 Margaret Mann Citation presented by the Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS) of ALCTS.
The award will be presented on Sunday, June 24, 2007, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2007 American Library Association (ALA) meeting in Washington, DC.
The Mann Citation, recognizing outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification, includes a $2,000 scholarship donated in the recipient’s honor by OCLC Inc. to the library school of the winner’s choice.
Robert Wolven is recognized for his outstanding contributions to the practice of cataloging and metadata as a thinker grounded in practice, a leader inspired with generosity, and a doer motivated by an encompassing vision of what can be achieved. At Columbia University Libraries, he has risen through the ranks from a meticulous serials cataloger to a deeply respected and visionary leader of its technical services and information technology divisions. Wolven’s professional contributions have been marked by his uncanny ability to see the best possible solutions to problems, his remarkable intuition for the future, and his deep regard for library users, for library staff, and for libraries as leading cultural institutions.
Robert Wolven’s leadership has earned deep respect and gratitude. He has understood and used the power of technology to free catalogers to spend their time most effectively, and he has shared his experience and insights with his colleagues. In this regard, he has been a leader in the planning and implementation of projects at Columbia University and within RLG that are recognized for their technological innovativeness and forward-thinking nature. Finally, in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, as chair of the ALCTS Heads of Technical Services in Large Research Libraries Discussion Group, and on Steering Committees for such meetings as the TAIGA Forums and the CONSER Summit on Serials in a Digital Environment, to name only a few, Wolven has helped all of us think through and act on the fundamental changes underway in how we use information, how we describe it, and how we present it. He is that rare breed of cataloger who combines a vision of library excellence with the knowledge of the practical limits imposed on us all to achieve a profound and powerful balance of thought and action.
Wolven holds a master’s degree in library science from the Columbia University School of Library Service. He has designated the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College in Boston as the recipient of the scholarship.
The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services. Areas of concentration of ALCTS members include acquisition, cataloging, collection development, preservation, and archiving of all library materials in all formats as well as serial collection management.
ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.
