Shout-outs to Staff
The following are Libraries staff who have received a shout-out from one or more of their colleagues for going out of their way to be extra awesome at their job.
Special Collections Research Center
The SCRC blog represents the center's collections and work in an engaging way. Although the content they post is intended primarily as an announcement of a collection's availability to researchers, their interest in and passion for the materials comes through their writing. Recent blogposts have highlighted speculative fiction magazines, agricultural and architectural drawings, and century-old letters from NC State students. All of their blog content is profusely illustrated with compelling images of the materials, and their writing is both interesting and technically clear. The SCRC blog is a tremendous---and ongoing---team achievement.
- Chris Vitiello, Jul 9, 2021
Tessa Minchew
I'm privileged to work with some truly amazing people here in the Libraries, and Tessa is one of those people who I cannot imagine doing this job without. Not only is she a wonderful person and a joy to talk with, but her expertise in unraveling the complex world of academic licenses and translating them into words I understand is priceless. I can always count on Tessa to help me wrangle difficult questions and to offer dependable advice about potentially sticky situations, and I'm deeply grateful for her constant kindness and help.
- Shaun Bennett, Jun 22, 2021
Patricia Bulter
I would like to give a shout-out to Patricia Bulter. Patricia has been and still been the most efficient person for me handling all the problems I've had with wolftime issues. Regardless of how many times I email her she has been so helpful. I've had continuing issues with wolftime and no matter how many times I email her I can hear the warm in the response. There is a lot of employees at NCSU and she is one of the good ones that keep making my situation a little easier for me.
Thanks, Patricia
- Renee Smith-Davis, Jun 21, 2021
Julia Reynolds
Julia has a strong customer service orientation that has served everyone well this past year-plus. She began working on site early on during COVID, and from the beginning was helping out wherever she was needed.
Some of the duties she took on during COVID included:
-Answering the AskUs phones and taking on Hunt on-call Ask Us duties,
-Handing out ice cream, etc. to staff as a thank you from the Libraries Admin,
-Handing out boxed lunches to student employees as a thank-you from the Libraries, and
-Assisting with the training of the new Administrative Support Specialist at Hill.
It's been great working with someone who always looks for ways to be helpful to others. Thank you Julia!
- Laura Blessing, May 10, 2021
Tessa Minchew
Tessa Minchew from A&D has been a critical player in making mountains move when it comes to pulling all of the critical pieces together for ensuring our students and researchers have access to much-needed journals and databases. Tessa acts as a bridge between collections and technical services, customer service reps and their legal teams, campus accounting, and campus procurement. Along with her insight and ability to span issues of discovery, user experience, licensing, and access, she brings wit and genuine optimism, making her an invaluable collaborator and ambassador for the Libraries. And she does this all with grace and humor. Who doesn’t look forward to one of Tessa’s emails catching us up on the gritty issues of a license negotiation or platform downtime with embedded cute pictures of kittens?
- Hilary Davis, May 7, 2021
Christenna Hutchins, Tessa Minchew
Just want to send a big thank you to Christenna and Tessa for all the work they put into the long process of getting the Libraries' authenticated connection to the Plumb's Veterinary Drugs database. When the issue came up 9 months ago, it seemed like an easy fix, but the vendor was making updates that took a long time. Christenna and Tessa kept up with the vendor and made sure that once they all of their updates in place, the Libraries' connection would be updated and restored.
- Isaac Pomper, May 4, 2021
Chris Tonelli, Chris Vitiello, Brent Brafford, Chuck Samuels
The External Relations team does some of the coolest work in the library - their creativity, expertise, and effort really stand out anywhere you look: from the staff newsletter, videos like the Technician 100 exhibit interview, the slick handouts and PR pieces, the tantalizing social media, and the articles they write to tell the stories about the Libraries' students, staff, and donors.
I don't say it enough, but *thank you* to this outstanding set of colleagues who showcase the impact and value of the Libraries and it's colleagues!
- Hilary Davis, Apr 30, 2021
Patricia Butler
Patricia was so helpful when I was planning my FMLA, and in submitting my paid parental leave. It's a complicated process, and the university's system was undergoing a transition right when I was going on leave, so I think Patricia ended up submitting my request at least three different times! I don't know what I would have done without Patricia's help--it was very comforting to know everything was in order and not have to worry about it while I was navigating life as a new parent. Thank you, Patricia!
- Mia Partlow, Apr 28, 2021
Julie Lu
Julie is just a terrific IT person. She has helped me so many times with my computer and laptop and has never made me feel like I have done something stupid or broken something. She talks me through what she is doing, what she needs me to do, and talks to me about the aftercare as well. She has a keen idea of what patron service means.
- David Serxner, Apr 27, 2021
John Pommerich
The team that responds to AskUs chat questions does an outstanding job of managing a huge array of patrons' questions and ably takes care of troubleshooting issues behind the scenes. John fielded just such a question from a patron recently about accessing a journal that we should have had access to, but didn't. He investigated the issue, confirmed that we didn't have access, gave the faculty member perfectly reasonable, actionable next steps. John was respectful, thorough, and expedient in his response to the faculty member. John also referred the issue directly to me, and with some help from the publisher, we resolved the access issue in record time (1 hour!). Even though the faculty member's response was not appropriately appreciative, John's actions led to making a difference, and ultimately led a very positive outcome. While the efforts of John and the rest of the AskUs chat team may happen behind the scenes, the work they do is so much a part of our front line defense and support. Even though some of our patrons don't treat them with the respect they deserve, we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
- Hilary Davis, Apr 21, 2021