Washington, DC - The 1998 Helen M. Eckard Award for Exemplary Use of FSCS Data was presented by Data Use Subcommittee chair Keith Lance to Professor John C. Bertot of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, during the 11th Annual FSCS Training Workshop held in Alexandria, VA, March 30-April 1, 1998. Dr. Bertot received the FSCS data use award in recognition of his major contributions to research on public libraries, the Internet, and discounted telecommunications rates ('e-rates'). Both his use of FSCS data and his collegial collaboration with the FSCS Steering Committee and State Data Coordinators serve as excellent models for other researchers. The Eckard Award, first presented in 1995, is named for an NCES staff member who provided outstanding leadership as a professional librarian for the support of the Library Statistics Program.
Carrol Kindel, NCES Program Director for Institutional Records Operations, Roslyn Korb, NCES Program Director for Postsecondary & Library Cooperative Programs, and Robert Willard, NCLIS Acting Executive Director, presented the 1997 Keppel Award to 21 first time winners. Forty-two states and one territory were presented the Award. The Keppel Award is named after Francis Keppel, a U.S. Commissioner of Education, who served from 1962 to 1965. He was also a distinguished Member of NCLIS from 1978 to 1983. Dr. Keppel was an early and enthusiastic advocate of reliable and regularly reported national, state, and local library statistics that would provide a basis for public policy formulation and the improvement of library services to the entire spectrum of the U.S. population. The first Francis Keppel Awards were earned by four states at the 1992 annual Training Workshop. To date, all but one state and four territories have earned the Keppel Award.
The Award is in the form of an abacus with a mounted engraved brass plate. The Award is made each year to the qualifying Chief Officers of State and Territory Library Agencies and State and Territory Data Coordinators for submitting prompt, complete, and high quality public library data. Following is a list of the 1997 Keppel award recipients:
ALASKA
Karen Crane, State Librarian; Mary Jennings, State Data Coordinator
ARIZONA
Gladysann Wells, State Librarian; Jan Elliott, State Data Coordinator
ARKANSAS
John A. "Pat" Murphey, State Librarian; Carolyn Ashcraft, State Data Coordinator
COLORADO
Nancy Bolt, State Librarian; Keith Curry Lance, State Data Coordinator
CONNECTICUT
Richard G. Akeroyd, Jr., State Librarian; Leon Shatkin, State Data Coordinator
DELAWARE
Tom Sloan, State Librarian; Tom Dunlop, State Data Coordinator
FLORIDA
Barratt Wilkins, State Librarian; Sondra Taylor-Furbee, State Data Coordinator
GEORGIA
Thomas A. Ploeg, State Librarian; Diana Ray Tope, State Data Coordinator
IDAHO
Charles A. Bolles, State Librarian; Frank Nelson, State Data Coordinator
ILLINOIS
Bridget L. Lamont, State Librarian; Stanley E. Adams, State Data Coordinator
INDIANA
C. Ray Ewick, State Librarian; Roberta Brooker, State Data Coordinator
IOWA
Sharman Smith, State Librarian; Gerry Rowland, State Data Coordinator
KANSAS
Duane F. Johnson, State Librarian; Roy Bird, State Data Coordinator
KENTUCKY
James A. Nelson, State Librarian; Jay Bank, State Data Coordinator
LOUISIANA
Thomas F. Jaques, State Librarian; Gretchen Fairbanks, State Data Coordinator
MAINE
J. Gary Nichols, State Librarian; Karl Beiser, State Data Coordinator
MARYLAND
J. Maurice Travillian, State Librarian; Michael Osborne, State Data Coordinator
MASSACHUSETTS
Keith M. Fiels, State Librarian; Dianne Carty, State Data Coordinator
MICHIGAN
George Needham, State Librarian; Naomi Krefman, State Data Coordinator
MINNESOTA
Joyce Swonger, State Librarian; Jan Feye-Stukas, State Data Coordinator
MISSISSIPPI
Mary Ellen Pellington, State Librarian; Lynn Shurden, State Data Coordinator
MONTANA
Karen Strege, State Librarian; Diane Gunderson, State Data Coordinator
NEBRASKA
Rod Wagner, State Librarian; Kathleen "Kit" Keller, State Data Coordinator
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Kendall Wiggin, State Librarian; John Barrett, State Data Coordinator
NEW JERSEY
John Livingstone, State Librarian; Robert Fortenbaugh, State Data Coordinator
NEW MEXICO
Karen J. Watkins, State Librarian; Scott Sheldon, State Data Coordinator
NEW YORK
Janet Martin Welch, State Librarian; Carol Ann Desch, State Data Coordinator
NORTH CAROLINA
Sandra Cooper, State Librarian; Barbara Akinwole, State Data Coordinator
NORTH DAKOTA
Mike Jaugstetter, State Librarian; Carol S. Adams, State Data Coordinator
OHIO
Michael Lucas, State Librarian; Darla Cottrill, State Data Coordinator
PENNSYLVANIA
Gary D. Wolfe, State Librarian; Carol Ann Colyer, State Data Coordinator
RHODE ISLAND
Barbara Weaver, State Librarian; Ann Piascik, State Data Coordinator
SOUTH CAROLINA
James B. Johnson, Jr., State Librarian; Libby Law, State Data Coordinator
SOUTH DAKOTA
Jane Kolbe, State Librarian; Dorothy Liegl, State Data Coordinator
TENNESSEE
Edwin Gleaves, State Librarian; Jacci Herrick, State Data Coordinator
TEXAS
Robert Martin, State Librarian; Patty Davis, State Data Coordinator
UTAH
Amy Owen, State Librarian; Sandi Long, State Data Coordinator
VERMONT
Patricia Klinck, State Librarian; Marianne Kotch, State Data Coordinator
VIRGINIA
Nolan Yelich, State Librarian; Gwen Goff, State Data Coordinator
WEST VIRGINIA
David Price, State Librarian; J.D. Waggoner, State Data Coordinator
WISCONSIN
Larry T. Nix, State Librarian; Alan Zimmerman, State Data Coordinator
WYOMING
Helen Meadors Maul, State Librarian; Judy Yeo, State Data Coordinator
GUAM
Christine K. Scott-Smith, State Librarian & Data Coordinator
States receiving seven Keppel Awards to date are: Iowa, Ohio.
States receiving six Keppel Awards to date are: Delaware, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington.
States receiving five Keppel Awards to date are: Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
States receiving four Keppel Awards to date are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming.
States receiving three Keppel Awards to date are: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, New York.
States receiving two Keppel Awards to date are: NONE.
States winning one Keppel Award to date are: Alabama, District of Columbia, as well as
first time winners, New Jersey, South Dakota, & Guam.
FSCS is a cooperative program of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) that has been in operation since 1988. The purpose of the Training Workshops is to improve the annual collection, reporting, and use of national public library data. Participants included Data Coordinators from all of the States and Territories.
"The purpose of the National Center for Education Statistics shall be to collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and other data related to education in the United States and in other Nations." - Section 406(b) of the General Education Provisions Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1221e-1).
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is a permanent, independent agency of the Federal government charged by Public Law 91-345 to advise the President and Congress on national and international library and information policies and plans.