FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2007

For more information, contact:
Jennifer McLennan
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
jennifer@arl.org

Washington, DC – March 8, 2007– Julia Blixrud, SPARC Assistant Director for Public Programs and ARL Assistant Executive Director for External Relations, has won the 2007 CSA/Ulrich’s Serials Librarianship Award from the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS).

The ALCTS announcement, issued March 6, attests to Julia’s leadership:

“In recent years, Blixrud has been a catalyst in scholarly publishing’s digital revolution, as a key developer and proponent of both SPARC and BioOne. From print to online, from punch cards to digitization, Julia Blixrud has been at the forefront of developments in serials work and scholarly communication.”

“With more than 70 publications and a record of presentations in virtually every state of the union and internationally, Blixrud’s contributions to the advancement of serials librarianship are unparalleled. She has labored tirelessly in her outreach efforts within the library and academic communities to broaden understanding of the complex economic and political issues in scholarly publishing. Only an exceptionally skilled individual could spearhead fundamental change in our system of scholarly publishing. On top of her outstanding credentials and deep knowledge of the issues, Blixrud enjoys an outstanding reputation among her peers.”

"Julia's leadership in the serials arena has served to shape public policy and library practice for over 30 years,” said Duane Webster, Executive Director of ARL (the Association of Research Libraries). “It is a privilege to work with such a talented, persuasive, and articulate colleague."

“SPARC is so fortunate to work with Julia and to have her represent us in the community,” said Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). “Her commitment, dedication, and tireless efforts have helped make SPARC’s strategy and activities a reality for nearly eight years. Congratulations, Julia!”

Julia will be presented with the award on Sunday, June 24, 2007, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2007 American Library Association (ALA) meeting in Washington, DC. ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.

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SPARC
SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), with SPARC Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance of more than 800 academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication. SPARC’s advocacy, educational, and publisher partnership programs encourage expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/sparc/.