Ellen Finnie Duranceau, Digital Resources Acquisitions Librarian Nicole Hennig, Web Manager and Usability Specialist
Our final award for Innovative Solutions goes to two individuals who stood among very few library leaders to develop electronic resources management and presentation systems. One awardee led a process to develop a new tool for providing access to the Libraries' online subscriptions. The other emerged as a key leader in developing Vera, Virtual Electronic Resource Access. Revolutionizing access to information resources for the MIT community, Vera has undergone constant improvement under their leadership. Among other features, Vera enables users to search or browse over 30,000 electronic journals and 400 databases, find articles from specific citations, and peruse new titles.
Vera is renowned nationally and internationally as a model system that has influenced standards within the field. Many libraries in research universities and smaller colleges emulate Vera; national standards for Electronic Resource Management Systems incorporate many of its principles. Ellen Finnie Duranceau and Nicole Hennig provided national leadership in the transition from traditional to digital libraries. For outstanding innovation, Nicole and Ellen are "Vera-" table heroes. Thank you both and congratulations on your MIT Excellence Award.