APSIG newsletter no. 61: July 2006

Arlene Cohen recognised

APSIG warmly congratulates our friend and colleague Arlene Cohen on receiving the 2006 Virginia Boucher-OCLC Distinguished Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Librarian Award.

Arlene, who is well-known in the Pacific community, is associate professor and the circulation and interlibrary loan librarian, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library, University of Guam, Mangilao. The award recognizes and honours a librarian for outstanding professional achievement, leadership and contributions to ILL and document delivery. The US$2,000 award and citation are donated by OCLC, Online Computer Library Center.

'Arlene Cohen exemplifies excellence in interlibrary loan services,' said Suzanne Ward, chair of the award committee. 'Her outstanding accomplishments include initiating cooperative interlibrary loan services throughout the Pacific Islands, a distinguished record of publications and presentations on resource sharing and access to information resources; and her tireless advocacy for library services to underdeveloped regions.'

Arlene Cohen co-founded FreeShare, a cross-regional DOCLINE library group whose members agree to fill interlibrary loan requests free of charge. She also mentors FreeForAll, a coalition of libraries providing free interlibrary loan to libraries in the developing world.

Well done, Arlene!