Total Immersion--Sharon Morris

Sharon Morris Colorado State Library, Denver

What connects these disparate jobs is Morris's belief that "librarianship is a profession filled with learning, fun projects, and meaningful interactions. I choose jobs based on these three criteria."

AskColorado, jointly sponsored by the Colorado Department of Education and Colorado State Library, was launched in 2003, with over 200 staff members from Colorado libraries sharing responsibilities. It already answers over 2000 questions a month and has produced much favorable comment: "Fantastic use of my taxpayer dollars!"

While she doesn't claim credit for AskColorado's launch, which occurred the first month she was on the job, Morris does take credit for using statistics, user comments, sample transactions, meeting presentations, and email updates both to continue librarians' buy-in for the project and expand support.

Dodie Ownes, an independent information consultant, thinks Morris underrates her contribution: "Keeping a collaborative virtual reference service going requires tenacity and imagination. Imagine trying to get over 50 public, academic, school, and special libraries to agree on an equitable way to divide staff time and expenses on the AskColorado project. This is a major accomplishment."

Morris says she's always chosen jobs that allow her to stretch and develop new ideas and talents. "The job assignment that's the most fun is whichever project I am working on at the time. I get completely immersed." For her, professionalism is about approaching each task with curiosity and a goal of achieving understanding and expertise. She says, "Being right is overrated. Being curious and open to learning will get you much further."