Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - When John Berg came to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville as a reference librarian in 1997, he found two things: supportive colleagues and friendly students. It's the reason his seven years at the university have been so enjoyable. "Those two things for me make a real happy working environment," Berg said.

Now coordinator of public services for UWP's Karrmann Library, Berg has been awarded the 2004 Academic Staff Award for Excellence. Nominated by Assistant Vice Chancellor for Information Services John Krogman, Berg was notified he won the award in July and was recognized at the chancellor's convocation in early September.

"I was pretty excited," Berg said. "I was really happy that my colleagues would consider me for receiving this award. I think it shows good support."

Berg oversees all the front-end activities and services of Karrmann Library, and in his time at the library his accomplishments are extensive. Berg has developed sessions he conducts with freshman English composition students to help them learn how to best utilize the library's resources. His hope is that students won't forget the value of research when they've finished the class or graduated from the university.

"We're not only learning for a particular class or degree, but hopefully we're learning skills for a lifetime. It's helpful not only in that one class, but hopefully in the rest of their college careers and beyond," Berg said. "I don't see education as beginning or ending here."

"My students comment that these orientation sessions increase their information literacy and research skills, that these sessions encourage them to become library users," English lecturer John Soley wrote in a letter in support of Berg's nomination.

Berg has extended this drive for "information literacy" to high schools, helping develop a program called "Embracing the World of Information," which brings youth to campus to learn the fundamentals of research. Berg has also collaborated with colleagues across the state to implement new information tools and assess new and existing services.

"John Berg has been a model for distinguished service," Krogman wrote in a letter supporting the nomination. "His positive attitude, quick wit and heartfelt compassion for others are infectious and help to make Karrmann Library a model library."

Berg has also been instrumental in optimizing the library's digital and Internet services. This is especially important because of the number of distance educational students enrolled at the university who participate in classes from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Now, armed with just a computer, UWP students can access thousands of full text journal articles online.

"We're making that more convenient so it's accessible in our residence halls, and to students all across the world," Berg said.

The process by which faculty secure books and journal articles for student use has also been improved. Before, faculty members would put books on reserve for their students to come to the library and read but not check out, ensuring that all of the students in a particular class had access to the book. Now, faculty members can e-reserve a book or excerpt using the library's Docutek system.

"In the past, the students have had to come over to the library and request the reserve item, and typically they would photocopy it so that they could have a hard copy to study from," Berg said. "Now they can download it, read it online or print it out from the convenience of their residential hall or personal computer."

Berg and his colleagues have streamlined the library's online resources so that all of them are accessible from the Karrmann Library homepage (www.uwplatt.edu/library.

"Databases, websites and a variety of reviewed internet sites are accessible all from one page," Berg said.

Berg lives in Cuba City. When he's not working or participating in professional development activities, one of his favorite hobbies is studying genealogy. "I'm really interested in my German background, so I spend a lot of time in graveyards and archives ... researching ancestral roots," he said.

Berg is involved with the Platteville Public Library and is a member of the Dubuque Area Library Information Consortium, an association of libraries serving the tri-state area. He also strives to secure better health care for people in the tri-state area as a member of the Medical Associates Advisory Board.

Karrmann Library is open 7:45 a.m.- midnight Monday-Thursday and 7:45 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays, excluding holidays. Additionally, the library is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. most Saturdays and at times on selected Sundays through the fall semester. Many of Karrmann Library's resources are available for public use, excluding proprietary databases.

Contact: John Berg, coordinator of public services, Karrmann Library, 608-342-1355, bergjo@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Dan Lehnherr, UWP Public Relations, 608-342-1194, lehnherd@uwplatt.edu