Michele Cloonan receives Banks/Harris Preservation Award

Michele V. Cloonan, dean and professor of the Graduate School of
Library and Information Science, Simmons College, is the recipient
of the 2010 Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. The
award, consisting of $1,500 and a citation, sponsored by
Preservation Technologies, L. P., recognizes the contribution of a
professional preservation specialist who has been active in the
field of preservation and/or conservation for library and/or
archival materials.  The award will be presented on Sunday, June 27,
at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2010 American Library
Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

Cloonan's academic and practical accomplishments represent a long,
diverse and extremely active career dedicated to promoting
preservation in practice, theory and graduate- and doctoral-level
education. Since she began her career in 1974, Dr. Cloonan's major
accomplishments include: her extensive research and publications,
which form a major contribution to the literature of the profession;
her incomparable influence and leadership in the field of
preservation education and curriculum development for preservation
in library science programs nationwide; and her active role as a
leader in preservation organizations and efforts, a testament to her
commitment to the profession.

During the period of her tenure at UCLA (1991-2002), Cloonan worked
effectively to secure grants and to initiate and manage preservation
activities. Among these were  establishing a joint masters program
in moving image preservation studies at UCLA (the first master's
level program in this field in the world), establishing UCLA's
Department of Information Studies as the U.S. co-host of InterPARES
(an international research project on preservation of authentic
electronic records), participating in the Stanford University-based
California Preservation Clearinghouse, developing a web site and
educational materials for the Los Angeles Preservation Network and
mounting a Preservation Intensive Institute at UCLA. At Simmons
College (2002 to date) Cloonan, as dean of the Graduate School of
Library and Information Science, has energetically promoted
preservation teaching and research. One measure of the extent to
which this has been effective is the ranking of the Graduate School
of Library and Information Science in the top ten library schools in
the U.S., and even higher in preservation education specifically.

Dr. Cloonan's writings on preservation are extensive and deeply
imbedded in the library and archives literature, dating from 1981,
when she published, "Developing a Brittle Book Program at the
Newberry Library." Library Scene, December 1981. There are too many
publications to list individually, but a few of her most influential
journal articles include, "The Paradox of Preservation," Library
Trends (Summer 2007), in an issue she co-edited with Ross Harvey,
"The Moral Imperative to Preserve," Library Trends (Winter 2007),
"W(h)ither Preservation" (Library Quarterly, April 2001),
"Preservation without Borders" (Libri, September 1997) and "The
Preservation of Knowledge" (Library Trends, Spring 1993). Cloonan is
currently writing a book that develops a more holistic view of the
preservation of cultural heritage. Her ongoing contribution to the
literature of the field also includes papers presented at
conferences and meetings throughout her career.

Cloonan's influence and contributions in the field of library and
archives preservation are also deeply imbedded in the profession
through her dedication to teaching and mentoring. She began teaching
preservation in graduate schools in 1985, at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, as well as the universities of Alabama,
Rhode Island and UCLA. At UCLA, she became chair of the Department
of Information Studies and continued to teach preservation and
mentor doctoral students. Currently, despite her heavy
administrative and college-wide leadership roles at Simmons College,
she regularly teaches a preservation management course.

Throughout Cloonan's career she has assumed regional, national and
international leadership roles to further the goals of the
preservation community. Currently, she is chair of the Northeast
Document Conservation Center's Board of Directors, having served on
their board since 2005 and on their Advisory Board from 1988 to
1992, 1995 to 1996 and 2002 to 2005. When she was at UCLA, teaching
preservation and other courses, she was on the Steering Committee of
the Los Angeles Preservation Network from 1991-2001, serving as its
chair from 1994 to 1995. Cloonan was a Consultant for the Office of
Management Services of ACRL, involved with its Preservation Planning
Program from 1989 to 1993. More recently, she was on the CLIR
(Council on Library and Information Resources) Committee of
Preservation (2006-2008). Throughout Cloonan's career she has served
on many ALA committees concerned with preservation and education. In
ALISE (Association for Library and Information Science Education)
she was the founder of the Preservation Education Special Interest
Group. She also served as president of ALISE from 2008-2009. She was
also a consultant for the Office of Management Services of ARL (the
Association of Research Libraries), Preservation Planning Program
from 1989-1993. She has taken her interests international by being
on the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations)
Standing Committee, Preservation and Conservation Section, from
2005-2009). She instituted three years of training for Iraqi
librarians (2004-2007) and she made Preservation one of the courses
taught.

The Banks/Harris Preservation Award honors the memories of Paul
Banks and Carolyn Harris, early leaders in library preservation and
teachers and mentors for many in the field of preservation. Paul N.
Banks was an early mentor to Cloonan at the Newberry Library in the
1970s. It is especially meaningful to recognize her with this award
named for one of her mentors. The Banks/Harris Award is given each
year by the Preservation and Reformatting Section of the ALCTS.

The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services
(ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who
work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions,
cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing
resources in digital and print formats.

ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.

Charles Wilt
Executive Director, ALCTS
312-280-5030


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:9
                   Distributed: Sunday, July 18, 2010
                        Message Id: cdl-24-9-001
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