Peter Nerzak

Peter Nerzak is the recipient of the 2009 Tenn-Share Resource Sharing Award.

Peter Nerzak has been a leader of library resource sharing among Tennessee community colleges, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system and the state as a whole. While serving as the library director of the Pellissippi State Community College Library, he has been a catalyst for resource sharing among Tennessee Board of Regents colleges and universities. 
 
He has coordinated several group purchases of electronic resources including coordinating the TBR library's subscription to the AGent federated engine. These group purchases have enabled the TBR colleges and universities to save money and expand the number and range of database access across the system. During the acquisition of AGent he coordinated the selection of databases and training sessions for TBR librarians. He and his fellow TBR library directors have worked with the TBR Office of General Counsel to arrange for TBR and state wide licenses which have resulted in greatly reduced prices and saved institutions many hours of duplicative contract negotiation and renewal.
 
Peter has coordinated the joint licensing of the following library databases for TBR and RODP using a variety of pricing or price-sharing models. Students in the TBR universities and community colleges have benefitted from Peter’s work by having access to 19 different databases.
 
With the advent of the Regents Online Degree (RODP) program, Peter volunteered to serve as the TBR libraries' liaison with the RODP director and staff. He led the development of the RODP Virtual Library. He and his Pellissippi staff developed the Virtual Library's website and coordinated with the other TBR libraries to update electronic links and access information each fall. He personally coordinated with RODP faculty from all the TBR institutions to promote the use of library resources. In support of the Regents Online Degree Program and local online courses, he coordinated a series of training sessions for librarians to learn how to insert themselves in online courses as "embedded librarians" in support of the online faculty. Peter also worked with the director and staff of the Regents Online Degree program to obtain RODP funding for several databases which were made available to the 18,000 RODP students and all the TBR institutions as well. He has worked to develop tools for assessment and outcome evaluations for research and library resources which are embedded in each RODP course. These tools evaluate both faculty and student outcomes. 
 
Peter has also been active in many statewide library organizations. Peter served as an Academic Library Representative on the Tenn-Share Board for 2004-2006. He was on the Collection Development Committee which is now the Electronic Resources Committee. He also served on the 2006 Fall Conference Committee. Even before his official service on the Board, Peter was one of Tenn-Share's 'go-to-guys' for advice on electronic resources. He has been at the forefront of online resources from the beginning and has contributed his expertise to the benefit of all the Tenn-Share institutions.
 
Peter is a pleasure to work with. He has a great understanding of the technology required to deliver high quality online library resources and services. He is visionary and pragmatic – a highly desirable, but unlikely combination. He has a terrific sense of humor, but doesn’t diverge from his goal. He can identify the issues preventing consensus and help those disagreeing find the points of agreement so the group can move forward. We just can’t say enough complimentary things about one of our favorite professional colleagues, Peter Nerzak.