Marcia Lei Zeng, professor at Kent State University’s
School of Library and Information Science, accepts an
Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award from
Grant McGimpsey, Kent State's vice president for
research.

A college professor who has authored more than 80 research papers and five books, lectured and served as keynote speaker at about 200 national and international conference presentations, and received research funding from the National Science Foundation and Institute of Museum and Library Services is certainly one worthy of being called outstanding.

Marcia Lei Zeng, professor of library and information science at Kent State University’s School of Library and Information Science, was recognized this year as an Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award recipient for her scholarly research, its quality and impact on society. Zeng was one of three award recipients.

Kent State’s Outstanding Research and Scholar Awards recognize outstanding faculty members for their notable scholarly contributions that have brought acknowledgement to their fields of study and to Kent State.

“I believe that receiving this award is not just a recognition of my research and scholarship, it is a recognition of our school, the School of Library and Information Science, the home of the Library and Information Science program and the Information Architecture and Knowledge Management program,” says Zeng.

Zeng is one of the world’s foremost scholars on knowledge organization and representation, and metadata. Her research interests also include database quality control, multilingual and multicultural information processing, and digital libraries.

She collaborates with researchers and teams from major institutions and organizations, including the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, the European Union’s Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations Program, Getty Research Institute, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, International Organization for Standardization and the World Wide Web Consortium.

“Our school and our College of Communication and Information have such a wonderful, collaborative and supportive culture,” says Zeng. “The faculty members work together and support each other; the directors, interim directors, and our deans and associate deans give full support and recognition to our research and teaching.”

In addition to her research and teaching, Zeng was director-at-large of the Association for Information Science and Technology and executive board member of the International Society for Knowledge Organization. Currently, she serves as the inaugural Advisory Board chair of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

“My sincere thanks go to the colleagues and leaders of the School of Library and Information Science and the College of Communication and Information,” says Zeng. “I will continue my research and teaching at the School of Library and Information Science and contribute to the success of the school, which is one of the nation's top schools of library and information science.”

For more information about Kent State’s School of Library and Information Science, visit www.kent.edu/slis.