Awards and Profiles: Cornell's Librarian Couple, Germain and Basefsky
A Note from the Editors:
One name you see on ResourceShelf and DocuTicker quite often is Cornell University librarian, good friend, and founder/editor of the IWS Documented News Service, Stuart Basefsky.
More about Stuart and his work in a moment but first you need to know that he isn't the only information professional in the family.
Stuart's wife is Claire Germain, Law Librarian and Law Professor at Cornell Law School. Recently Germain received the highest honor from the French government when she was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur medal for her efforts in bridging the American and French legal cultures.
It's beyond wonderful to learn that an info professional received this award. Félicitations!
Germain, who was born in France and is both a French and an American citizen, was visibly touched when during the dedication Lamanda presented her with the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur medal, France's highest honor, originating under Napoleon, for her efforts in bridging the American and French legal cultures. Later she related that her grandfather had also received the medal for his services as a colonel in the French army during World Wars I and II.
More about the award and festivities in Paris here and here.
Now back to Stuart and his work. He is also getting some well-deserved (understatement) attention.
Basefsky's IWS Documented News Service is a great example of one librarian offering a focused current awareness (labor news and info) tool for a specific audience. In this case, the faculty, staff, and students at Cornell's Institute For Workplace Studies (IWS). While we feature some of Stuart's work on ResourceShelf and Docuticker, it's just a small portion of what he shares via email. The good news is that now each post is available on the IWS Documented News Service blog.
Finally, here's a link to to a profile (page 2 in this PDF) about Stuart and his work. It was published in the most recent issue of the IWS Briefing newsletter.
Here's a quote from Stuart that's included in the profile:
“I see my role as that of facilitator. I match people to information products and bring people to people. I help create networks at ILR and others that involve ILR, which are as much a part of the library as books and articles. I disseminate documents to a wide audience and help people link facts to a larger context…I’m also a consultant, a trainer, and a reporter…Basically, my skill set allows me to be a gap filler.”
We think that quote deserves to be used and documented in librarian schools throughout the world.
Finally, we are honored and thrilled that Stuart is a contributor to ResourceShelf and DocuTicker but more importantly a terrific example of what the 21st information is (or should be) all about.
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