Four New Inductees to the PALNI Hall of Fame

The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana Inc. (PALNI) inducted four library staff into the PALNI Hall of Fame at the virtual OPAL/PALNI all-staff meeting, August 7th, 2020. Awardees have had long-standing service or broad investment in advancing PALNI as a whole or a major impact on a PALNI initiative over multiple years. The Hall of Fame award is given to those who have helped to create the collaborative environment, strategic direction, and success PALNI has achieved and embody the PALNI culture of respect and innovation. This year’s awardees include:

Laura Vogler, Wabash College

Laura Vogler has had a longstanding and active involvement with PALNI. Her contributions to the PALNI community conversation and shared knowledge have spanned the gamut from technical system functions and configurations, to identifying areas to improve workflow efficiencies, to providing keen insight on strategy and trends in academic librarianship. Laura’s approach to issues is strongly evidence based and she is never afraid to ask “Now, why are we doing it that way?” Laura has been an important member of the leadership of the PALNI Fulfillment steering committee and the Digital Lending task force. She has been a key addition to the PALNI community to challenge us to always look to improve and to do so collaboratively and by leveraging our collective expertise.  She was also recently honored by OCLC as a leading contributor to the OCLC community site.  

Erin Milanese, Goshen College

Erin's knowledge and contributions to the PALNI, the PALSave program and the instructional technology advisory group have been vital to its strong success. She has served as the coordinator of the PALSave program, and has served on the steering committee of the instructional technology advisory group. Erin is being honored for the work she has done to develop meetings and summits, and for her key contributions to the creation of the instructional Tech Tools website.  Erin’s consistent efforts to share her knowledge and engage with others in PALNI has advanced collaboration in many avenues, between librarians, between instructional technologists, and faculty. Her knowledge and dedication to these projects are exceptional.

Vanessa French, Butler University

Vanessa French has served on the KnowledgeBase/License Manager group on the steering committee and on the Collection Management Policy Team. She is one of PALNI's liaisons to the ALI Resource Advisory Committee. Vanessa is another one with a strong voice and vision to find a way to improve. She serves as a powerful partner in negotiations with vendors. She is a data whiz, is constantly exploring new tools and resources, and steps up to support the analytics needs of PALNI as we try to improve our current deals and prospective collection collaboration. Her knowledge and expertise have been invaluable to our renewals and strategy development. She works extremely smart on behalf of Butler and shares what she has learned with others in PALNI. She almost always presents a new way of handling a situation that benefits us all.

Jeff Siemon, Anderson University

Jeff has provided significant contributions to the PALNI and wider body of knowledge through presentations, thought provoking and insightful written pieces in the PALNI and OCLC communities, identifying and advocating for collaborative solutions, and offering librarians assistance and advice on individual issues. Jeff has also served on the KnowledgeBase/License Manager group and on the Collection Management Policy Team. He has been a major contributor to OCLC knowledgebase accuracy. He served as one of the two liaisons to the INSPIRE advisory group. State Librarian Jake Speer commended him on his knowledge, expertise, and dedication to libraries of all types in the state of Indiana. Jeff not only prepared detailed analysis of the proposals, but also developed strategy for review and negotiation. The members of the PALNI Collection Management Team commended him for his work and also for the work he has put in to improve the next RFP cycle for INSPIRE. Jeff's work has been full of challenges. Data cleanup and statewide government bureaucracy. But he continues on, makes headway, and benefits people worldwide.

Many congratulations to the awardees and thank you for your exemplary service.