Tim Bucknall, assistant dean for Electronic Resources and Information Technology and associate professor for University Libraries at UNC Greensboro, has been awarded the 2019 Distinguished Service Award by the North Carolina Library Association (NCLA). The award is presented every two years, or when deemed appropriate, to a member of the Association who has made significant contributions to the profession.
Bucknall received the award on October 17 at the all-conference reception and awards presentation sponsored by NC Live and held at the Forsyth County Public Library’s Central Branch at the 63rd NCLA Biennial Conference in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The award was presented to Bucknall by Alan Unsworth, director of academic support and research at Surry Community College Library.
Bucknall was nominated for the award by Catherine Lee, dean of the Learning Resource Center at Cape Fear Community College. Criteria for receiving the award includes distinguished service to North Carolina, significant service or other professional contributions provided during either a short or long span of time and service resulting in a regional or national impact on librarianship in general.
“Tim has made many notable contributions to the profession,” said Lee. “Two things that have had a huge impact on my community college library, along with many others in North Carolina, are the founding of the Carolina Consortium and his creation of Journal Finder.”
When Lee arrived at Cape Fear Community College in 2005, she immediately realized the value of the Consortium through its negotiating and buying power and its ability to extend the reach of database and e-resource dollars. The Consortium made an immediate impact on libraries—allowing them to be good stewards of their resources.
“While Tim will be the first to say that the Consortium takes a team to operate, he is most definitely the driving and influential force behind it and has been since he founded it,” noted Lee.
With Journal Finder, Bucknall invented the very first open URL link resolver in the United States, which changed how libraries and students access journals and e-resources, significantly improving the ability to do academic research.
“His contributions to the profession have undoubtedly benefited every academic library in North Carolina,” said Lee.
Not only has Bucknall created and developed these tools and services, he also shares his experience and knowledge with others in the profession. Bucknall has shared his knowledge with the academic library community through writing and presenting on various topics, such as technology, online catalogs, electronic resources, serials management issues, open access and more.
Prior to joining UNCG in 1994, Bucknall served as electronic services librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). He received his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Texas-Austin and earned his MLIS and a MA in art history from UNC-CH.