NJAL Awards


 

Distinguished Service Award

NJAL Distinguished Service Award is given to a librarian who has had distinguished service or achievement within the New Jersey academic community. This award is not limited to persons who have received national recognition. It is intended to honor any person who, by his or her outstanding contributions, has directly enriched librarianship in higher education in New Jersey.

Research Award

NJAL Research Award recognizes excellence in the research efforts of New Jersey librarians. All types of research published are considered, including books, journal articles, bibliographies, multimedia projects, online publications or other scholarship. A New Jersey librarian practicing or professionally active in the New Jersey library community must be the author or co-author.

Technical Services Award

NJAL Technical Services Award honors a librarian or team of librarians who have worked in collections and technical services including but not limited to: acquisitions, cataloging, metadata, collection management, preservation, electronic and continuing resources and has made significant contributions to enhance and advance technical services librarianship. 

Technology Innovation Award

Offered through 2025

The Technology Innovation Award honors a librarian or group of librarians for innovative use and application of technology in a New Jersey academic library, including creative use of existing technologies. The award may be given either in recognition of a specific project, or for an ongoing delivery of innovative technology applications. Particular consideration will be given to those that have had a transformative impact on their institution and can be used by other academic institutions. The purpose of the award is to recognize distinguished leadership in developing new technologies for academic libraries.

Award Winners


Distinguished Service Award

Alyssa M. Valenti Electronic Resources & Web Services Librarian, Raritan Valley Community College

Research

Zara Wilkinson Rutgers University-Camden

Wilkinson, Z. T. (2024). The prevalence of textbook affordability and OER initiatives at ARL libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 50(4), 102884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2024.102884

Technical Services

Dr. Edith Baker State Library of NJ

Technology Innovation

Megan Dempsey Raritan Valley Community College

Business Law I Interactive OER Textbook in Pressbooks

Distinguished Service

Marilyn Ochoa Library Services Director, Middlesex College 

Research

Samantha Kannegiser Rutgers University-Camden & Julie Hunter

Kannegiser, S., & Hunter, J. (2024). Sexual harassment on chat reference: Prevalence, impact, and the role of organizations. College & Research Libraries, 85(2), 267–287. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.85.2.267

Technical Services

Mary Beth Weber Rutgers University

Distinguished Service

Kate Skrebutenas Princeton Theological Seminary

Research

Valenza, J. K., Dalal, H., Mohamad, G., Boyer, B., Berg, C., Charles, L. H., Bushby, R., Dempsey, M., Dalrymple, J., & Dziedzic-Elliott, E. (2022). “First years' information literacy backpacks: What's already packed or not packed?” The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(4), 102566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102566

Technical Services

Mei Ling Chow Montclair State University

Technology Innovation

Joyce DeStasio Stockton University

Sweat Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Maya Gervits and team New Jersey Institute of Technology

Mobile Apps for the Digital Archive of Newark Architecture (DANA)

Distinguished Service

Bonnie Lafazan Campus Library Director, Berkeley College

Research

Leslin Charles Rutgers University

Charles, L., & DeFabiis, W. (May 2021). Closing the transactional distance in an online graduate course through the practice of embedded librarianship. College and Research Libraries, 82(3), 370–388. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.82.3.370

Technical Services

Sharon Whitfield Rider University

Distinguished Service

Christina Connor Ramapo College of NJ

Research

Catherine Baird Montclair State University

Baird, C., & Soares, T. (2020). Faculty perceptions of students’ IL learning in first-year writing. portal: Libraries & the Academy, 20(3), 509–532. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2020.0028

Technical Services

Jian Wang Stockton University

Technology Innovation

Colin Bitter The College of New Jersey

OCLC Data Sync Reports with Python

Gary Marks William Paterson University

Virtual Scavenger Hunt Using ArcGIS

Distinguished Service

Heather A. Dalal Associate Professor - Librarian, Rider University

Research

Sharon Whitfield Rider University

Whitfield, S., & Johnson, A. T. (2019). Women technology librarians as good citizens. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 45(5), 102058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.102058