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Baker and Coy Named Spence White Service Award Winners for 2012
Trish Baker, Media Resources Coordinator, Licking Area Computer Association, and Karen Coy, INFOhio Liaison, Hamilton/Clermont Cooperative Association, have been named Spence White Service Award winners for 2012.
As an ITC director, Spence White did much to make INFOhio possible by recognizing early on how the Ohio Education Computer Network could support INFOhio's vision of providing equal access to information resources to all Ohio students and teachers. Spence believed wholeheartedly in INFOhio's goals, and he worked tirelessly to make INFOhio a reality.
While he is no longer with us, we celebrate his legacy and hold it as a standard of excellence by recognizing the tireless efforts of others to make Spence's vision a reality.
Trish Baker The word that came up again and again in the  nominations of Trish Baker was "patient." Trish knows the software forwards and backwards. She is always willing to answer any question as many times as necessary until everyone is comfortable with the technology. One nominator said: "It is comforting to know that she is only a phone call or help desk message away. So many times, I am frustrated with myself because I do not know or cannot remember some detail of the INFOhio system." She's also an advocate for new tools and ideas. For example, she's a proponent of Pirate Day, using it as a way to promote the Mango Languages database. Trish also shows librarians how they can use technologies such as QR Codes to promote their library and other techniques to make themselves indispensable to their districts. She has promoted ICoach training across her service region, even taking on an additional region to help meet demand. Karen Coy Karen, according to all of her nominators, is  a true friend to librarians in the field. She's a shoulder to lean on and can work through challenges with a calm, cool head. She goes the extra mile without any fanfare, without any expectation of reward or even thanks. Karen has a tremendous gift to see the "whole library picture" while still addressing the details of a library project. There is no question about Workflows, INFOhio's library software system, that she can't answer quickly, and she continually looks for ways to remove the technical, day-to-day burdens of library automation work so that media specialists can focus their attention on their priorities: their students and faculty. Karen excels in face-to-face training. She is also well known-and much appreciated-for her regular email updates. Her succinct and practical tips are easy to pass along to busy faculty and go far in reminding them of the INFOhio resources available right at their fingertips. | 
