Marshall Center Research Library named Library of the Year
July 2007
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany — The Marshall Center Research Library was recently named the best small library in the U.S. federal government when it won the 2006 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year award.
The Marshall Center Research Library staff, from left to right: Elena Efimenko, Kathryn Davis, Brigitta Pirzer, Library Director Marcy Hampton, Andrew Adaryukov, Kirsten Lahlum, Luba Yedeikin, Mary Ellen Haug and Jill Golden. The staff were recently recognized for their innovation in meeting their customers’ information needs when the library was named the 2006 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year.
Photo by Karlheinz Wedhorn
The Library of Congress’ Federal Library and Information Center Committee annually recognizes both a large and a small library for their innovation in meeting their customers’ information needs. The Marshall Center Research Library, with nine staff members, won in the small library category. The library serves military and civilian officials participating in the programs of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, a U.S.-German security and defense studies institute. In 2006 the staff worked with more than 800 course participants from 80 countries. FLICC cited the library for its effectiveness, versatility and dedication to its customers in carrying out a series of initiatives designed to help program participants make the most of resources available to them not only at the Marshall Center, but also back in their home countries.
It is just as important for course participants to know how to use the library’s resources once they leave the Marshall Center as when they are in residence, according to Library Director Marcy Hampton.
“When [participants] go home and are in their ministries, they continue to have access to library resources through the on-line Knowledge Portal. They can utilize the resources to prepare a report or analyze a situation. They wouldn’t have access to so many commercial database products without their [Knowledge Portal] password,” Hampton said.
“It might be statistical information or market information or strategic security studies. It might come from databases that aggregate open source journal literature or from databases developed for a specific target audience, such as Jane’s Terrorism Insurgency Center database. A student who knows how to use those resources to his advantage will be a much more valued player in his country.”
The library boasts 56,000 books, 350 journals and newspapers and 15 electronic databases, along with research training classes and research assistance to help course participants take advantage of those resources. The library does business in the same three languages in which the Center conducts its residential courses, English, German and Russian.
One of the library’s major projects in 2006 was switching the catalog of its 22,000 Russian titles from transliterated Russian to Cyrillic.
“A Russian-speaking student wouldn’t necessarily recognize the Latin letters that spell out Pravda. For a student trying to research Russian-language titles, [the transliterated Russian] was tough,” Hampton said. “Now, our Russian-language holdings can be searched in Cyrillic. Our alumni in Russia or the Ukraine can search our catalog, view a journal article that looks interesting, request an inter-library loan or check out an electronic book. It is one of the ways we’re trying to serve our alumni.”
FLICC will honor the Marshall Center Research Library and other award winners at the 24th Annual FLICC Forum on Federal Information Policies Oct. 12 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where they will receive their awards from Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.
Text: By Anne Fugate - George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
