LAC Federal’s Select Federal Team Receives FEDLINK Award

Select Federal Services, a mentor-protégé joint venture between LAC Federal and the MCH Corporation – a company providing IT solutions for government agencies, is proud to support NASA Goddard Library/the Goddard Information and Collaboration Center (GICC) in receiving the 2021 Large Federal Library of the Year. Presented by the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK), Select Federal has been recognized for their work with NASA Goddard Library and GICC. The NASA Goddard Library/GICC’s team of experts in Information Research and Library Services have worked together to make the GICC an awarding-winning information service dedicated to supporting the employees of NASA Goddard and the Select Federal team.

Program Manager Tonia Reynolds-Pope, who brings twenty-five years of service in her career as a Librarian and fourteen years at the NASA Goddard Library, leads Select Federal and has guided the Library through the pandemic by maintaining and expanding services for the Goddard community. Her relationships with federal staff have paved the way for the Select Federal team to collaborate seamlessly with all NASA Libraries, leading to innovative research, cost-saving initiatives and newly-introduced and relevant services.

The Library and Select Federal staff were recognized for their innovative services during the pandemic, including:  

• launching new bibliographic and data visualization services
• collaborating with agency scientists on bibliographic data capture and data visualizations  
• increasing collaborations with other NASA Libraries in conducting research for senior agency personnel 
• allowing customers to continue using library services and materials remotely

According to Select Federal’s Deputy Program Manager, Michael Chesnes, Select Federal was able to improve visibility by “collaborating with other NASA libraries on projects that created alerts for the agency’s Chief Scientist that assessed the impact of astronomy and astrophysics journals.” 

In 2021, the GICC conducted research for senior agency personnel and supported an audit of Goddard authors. As part of a NASA knowledge exchange program, the center mapped the policies of the ILS to enhance the center’s online public access catalog. Chesnes noted that Select Federal’s “participation in support of the NASA Library Network has improved our ability to provide services, both for Goddard Space Flight Center and the agency as a whole.” Winning a national award that recognizes various innovations that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill for government information needs is a great honor, and LAC Federal is pleased to have supported the NASA Goddard Library/GICC in achieving this important recognition through Select Federal.