Apr 08, 2013

To honor the contributions of academic librarians and provide resources to help them in their important work, ASTM International has launched its Recognizing Librarians campaign. The campaign builds on the strong relationship between ASTM International and academic librarians, who are responsible for the technical knowledge base of colleges and universities — a base that includes ASTM International technical publications in the ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library.

A highlight of the Recognizing Librarians initiative is ASTM International’s sponsorship of the American Society for Engineering Education’s Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award, which is presented each year by the ASEE Engineering Library Division. The award recognizes work that has contributed to the advancement and development of excellence in engineering libraries.

Other components of the campaign include:

- Access to Tools for Faculty — Librarians can now serve as an access point at their schools for ASTM International resources that assist professors in introducing standards to their students, such as the Professor’s Tool Kit.
- User Resources — Videos, slides and other guidance to help librarians extend the use of the ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library.
- Promotional Materials — Promotional materials and giveaways are now available to help librarians increase awareness of their schools’ campus-wide online access to ASTM publications.

Academic librarians advance the educational missions of their institutions and introduce innovative ways to meet the needs of the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. They decide which resources and content to have on hand and the best ways to access and deliver that content, providing service to students, professors, researchers and others.

The ASTM International Standards and Engineering Digital Library (SEDL) contains 50 years worth of ASTM standards and technical publications, including manuals, monographs, data series, special technical publications and journal articles. The subject matter covers a wide range of engineering disciplines, including aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, environmental, health and safety, mechanical, nuclear and petroleum engineering. More than 1,000 academic libraries around the world provide their users with access to this information through subscriptions to the SEDL.

“When members of the Virginia Military Institute’s engineering faculty mentor cadets conducting undergraduate research, the students have the opportunity to enhance their skills and expertise,” says Janet S. Holly, reference librarian, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va. “Both mentors and students find SEDL an invaluable source. During the 2012 accreditation process with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, VMI library was praised for providing SEDL to its students and faculty.”

For additional information and access to the resources available for the campaign, see the “For Librarians” section at www.astm.org/campus.
 
For more information about the Standards and Engineering Digital Library, contact George Zajdel (phone: 610-832-9614; gzajdel@astm.org). For more information on ASTM International’s academic outreach, contact James Olshefsky at (phone: 610-832-9714; jolshefsky@astm.org).

ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #9348