SU alumni honored with 21st Century Librarian Awards

SU alumni honored with 21st Century Librarian AwardsOctober 20, 2003Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

Louise Levy Schaper ’82, G’84 and Kevin Matthew Dames ’01, both Syracuse University School of Information Studies alumni, received national 21st Century Librarian Awards in a ceremony held Oct. 17 at the Genesee Inn in Syracuse.

Schaper, who received the third annual 21st Century Librarian Award, is the executive director of the Fayetteville Public Library in Fayetteville, Ark. Schaper, a New Hartford, N.Y., native, has an excellent record of accomplishments in several library and information service environments. Following graduation from SU, Schaper took a position with AT&T’s Bell Labs corporate library in Murry Hill, N.J. There, she helped develop AT&T’s Right Pages, one of the world’s first virtual libraries. After seven years at AT&T, Schaper joined the University of California at San Diego as head of library systems. Her innovation led to the development of UCSD’s InfoPath project, a pre-Web electronic information database development effort. Eighteen months later, she assumed her current position, where she has formed a new vision for the library and is overseeing the construction of a new library building.

Dames, who received the first-ever 21st Century New Librarian Award, is currently the director of legal information strategies and Washington, D.C. operations of Cadence Group, Inc., an Atlanta-based information management and consulting firm. Previously, Dames completed a post-graduate fellowship as resident librarian at Georgetown University’s Edward Bennett Williams Law Library, one of the nation’s largest academic law libraries.

A New York native, Dames went to Georgetown after completing his Master of Library Science degree. While at SU, Dames was named a University Scholar, and was awarded the Antje Lemke Scholarship and Book Award as the school’s outstanding graduate library science student. Dames has also been inducted into Beta Phi Mu, the international information science honor society, and is a graduate of the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, where he received the school’s Nelson Mandela Scholarship.

Dames’ principal research areas are the roles technology plays in law libraries and legal education, and the impact of information policy on all libraries. He is serving a two-year appointment as member of the American Association of Law Libraries’ Copyright Committee, and is the developer of the Committee’s redesigned website.

The 21st Century Librarian Awards were established three years ago to recognize librarians who have become leaders in shaping the evolution of this new information environment. The awards are a project of the Master of Science in Library and Information Science students in SU’s School of Information Studies. The students manage all aspects of the award programs, including the development of award criteria, judging and selection, and promotions.