Business and Finance Division's
Centers of Excellence Award Winners
Announced at Annual Conference in Los Angeles

The awards take their inspiration from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards, which are given annually to US organizations to recognize and promote quality as a critical part of innovation and competitiveness.

The "Center of Excellence" Awards, like the Baldrige Award, recognize customer driven quality and leadership within the framework of an organization dedicated to the gathering, analysis and dissemination of information within the business community.

The awards serve to recognize the best of "best practices" in three categories: Service, Management and Technology. Any member of SLA could apply for consideration in any of the three categories and all entries were evaluated by a panel of judges who are members of the Business & Finance Division.

Center of Excellence Award for Service
Presented to
Lippincott Library,
The Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania

The Lippincott Library serves The Wharton School and is one of fifteen libraries at the University of Pennsylvania.

The judges felt that Lippincott excelled in the area of service to its clients. Its client base is comprised of 4860 faculty and students. The student body consists of MBA students, undergraduates and PhD candidates.

Through its website, one can access business related e-journals, business websites, databases and research guides. Lippincott provides live chat service as part of its online reference service in addition to providing information and assistance via email, telephone and in-person visits.

The library has created a "business database wizard" that links specific questions directly to library subscribed databases. It has a knowledge management database of shared search strategies, tips and reference "finds" to help accelerate responses to queries.

Each librarian supports a web café. "Management Intelligence 100", a required course for freshmen, provides 25 live, one hour lectures and demonstrations by the Library staff over a two week period.

In its physical space the library supports study carrels with PCs and internet connections. The staff is dedicated to the needs of the faculty and students and makes every effort to deliver information in whatever format is convenient for the client, as well as in an efficient and cost effective manner.