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Spring 2006 Commencement
May 15, 2006—The School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill celebrated its spring commencement program on Sunday, May 14.
There were 73 students who received degrees during the ceremony, which was held in the Great Hall of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union.
Special recognition went to four students who received the "Outstanding Service to the School" awards. John Walker was the undergraduate winner of the award. He was nominated for his outstanding contributions in investigating the development of the SILS Wiki and for encouraging its use. Joan Petit served as president of ILSSA, which benefited her fellow students and the SILS community. She also was a representative of SILS through the Carolina Academic Library Associate Program. Maggie Hite received the award for service with the World Library Partnership and activities in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The doctoral student winner was Ron Bergquist who has contributed much to the development and teaching of INLS 50, "Tools for Information Literacy." He was said to be "one of those who goes the extra mile to coach his students in their learning."
Dr. Jerry D. Saye. last year's recipient, presented the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award to Dr. Stephanie Haas. She received the first award issued through the program in 1997 as well. "This faculty member is well-known by both students and colleagues as a very giving person always ready to do what is needed for students, the school and the profession," said Dr. Saye. The award consists of a certificate and a $2500 check.
In addition , the selection committee determined that a special award for Outstanding Teacher of the Year would be presented to adjunct instructor, Lisa Norberg. She was noted by those nominating her as "an excellent classroom instructor who is committed and inspiring" a "model teacher and practitioner" whose teaching and professional example has been a beacon for students. The special award consists of a certificate and $500.
The Dean's Achievement Awards were presented by Drs. David Carr and Brian Sturm to Cynthia S. McCracken for her paper, "Bringing Order to the Intranet Chaos with Information Architecture," Dr. Deborah Barreau advising, and to Alison A. Raab for "Manga in Academic Library Collections: Definitions, Strategies, and Bibliography for Collecting Japanese Comics" with Dr. Carr advising. The award is presented to the students who produced the highest quality masters' papers from the previous graduating class.
The Distinguished Alumni Award was presented by Mark Sanders, vice president of the SILS Alumni Association, to Eveylyn M. Poole-Kober. Those selected for this award exhibit a strong commitment to librarianship or information science and demonstrate outstanding professional achievements at the national, state or local level.
Brewster Kahle, co-founder of the Internet Archive and a digital librarian, presented the commencement address, "Universal Access to All Knowledge." After his talk, Dean Jose-Marie Griffiths presented Kahle with The First State University, a signed book by William S. Powell, a North Carolina historian and a 1947 graduate of SILS. Dr. Griffiths also acknowledge Kahle's efforts of providing open access to the world's knowledge noting that his goals are closely aligned with SILS' goals. She then invited him to join the SILS faculty as a visiting scholar and presented him with a large version of a business card.
Lara Bailey, assistant student services manager, named those receiving the BSIS, MSIS and MSLS degrees. Dean Griffiths and Dr. Claudia Gollop completed the hooding of the students. Dr. Paul Solomon read the names of those who completed their Ph.D. requirements.
Before adjourning, Dean Griffiths invited everyone back to Chapel Hill for the 75th anniversary celebrations which will begin the week of September 18th, 2006.
Click here to see photos.