Librarian Wins Career Achievement Award
NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 11/1/10
CONTACT: LESLIE SCHALER, COMMUNICATION PROGRAM COORDINATOR, (413) 545-0162
UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIAN
WINS CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Amherst, MA — Gordon Fretwell, retired Associate Director of UMass Amherst Libraries, has received the 2010 Library Assessment Career Achievement Award from the Association of Research Libraries. Fretwell was instrumental in creating the definitions for standardized use of statistical data for research libraries. He helped make it possible for research libraries to contribute and use high quality comparable data for effective library management.
The Library Assessment Career Achievement Awards are offered in conjunction with the biennial Library Assessment Conference organized by the Association of Research Libraries, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington. The awards were presented on Monday, October 25, 2010, during the Baltimore conference.
Gordon Fretwell, who began his career at UMass Amherst Libraries in 1970, contributed to and led many ARL assessment efforts prior to his retirement from UMass Amherst in 2002. For 16 years, he was the editor of the ARL Annual Salary Survey. In 2002, he was a Visiting Program Officer working to collect and analyze e-metrics data recommended from the ARL E-Metrics project. Most recently his research paper presented in 2008 in Seattle on the LibQUAL+® comments informed the design of the new LibQUAL+® platform launched in 2010. Fretwell served in the past, and has been recruited to serve again as consultant to the ARL Statistics and Assessment Committee. He continues to work part-time at the UMass Amherst Libraries.
Jay Schafer, Director of Libraries, observed, “Gordon has a keen and careful eye for collecting, reviewing, and reporting data. He interprets data with a perceptive mind; his astute observations bring the story in the data to life. Gordon challenges us all to do our best and maintain the highest standards of integrity.”
For more information, contact Carol Connare, cconnare@library.umass.edu, 413-545-0995.
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Last Edited: 1 November 2010
