UA Staff Earn National Library Award

For the second time this year, UA Libraries staff members are being recognized for creating online and interactive tutorials aimed at improving authentic and active learning. 

The American Library Association is recognizing UA librarian Leslie Sult and Gregory (Mike) Hagedon, a senior applications systems analyst/developer, for the creation of Guide on the Side.

Gregory (Mike) Hagedon, a senior applications systems analyst/developer, and Leslie Sult, an instructional services librarian, both of the UA Libraries, have been selected to receive the 2013 Association of College and Research Libraries Instruction Section Innovation award for their work on the software, "Guide on the Side." (Photo credit: Beatriz Verdugo/UANews)

The UA Libraries introduced Guide on the Side to offer librarians around the world easily accessible, Web-based, open-source software – all without having to learn HTML or other coding.

It is the second award the "Guide on the Side" technology has received.

Earlier this year, the UA Libraries made a list of five libraries across the nation that the American Library Association announced it would be honoring. The ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy and the Library & Information Technology Association will recognize the UA Libraries and the four other honorees during the ALA annual conference being held June 27-July 2 in Chicago.

Also during the conference, Hagedon and Sult will be presented with a $3,000 check and a plaque.

“Understanding that many librarians are feeling the pressure to find methods to support student learning that do not require direct, librarian-led instruction, the University of Arizona Library’s Guide on the Side provides an excellent tutorial grounded in sound pedagogy that could significantly change the way libraries teach students how to use databases,” award committee co-chairs, Erin L. Ellis of the University of Kansas and Robin Kear of the University of Pittsburgh noted in a prepared statement. 

“The creators have made a version of the software open access and freely available to librarians to quickly create online, interactive tutorials for database instruction. This allows librarians to easily create tutorials that are both engaging to students and pedagogically sound.  Guide on the Side serves as a model of the future of library instruction.”

Read the full release, "Hagedon and Sult Win 2013 ACRL IS Innovation Award," on the American Library Association's site.

Contacts:Gregory (Mike) Hagedon, senior applications systems analyst/developer, at 520-235-0426 or mhagedon@email.arizona.edu; Leslie Sult, an instructional services librarian, at 520-626-3850 or lsult@email.arizona.edu.