(via Gwen Gregory, IACRL Past President)
Nominations are being sought for the Beta Phi Mu/LRRT Research Paper Award for 2017. This award is being jointly presented by the Beta Phi Mu International Honor Societyand the American Library Association’s Library Research Round Table to recognize excellent research in progress into problems related to the profession of librarianship. Any ALA member is eligible for this $500 award, and all methodologies and research topics or questions are eligible for consideration.
The following criteria will be used to evaluate and grade submissions.
- importance of the research question or problem (20 points)
- adequacy of the review of relevant literature (10 points)
- appropriateness of the methodology used (10 points)
- effectiveness of the application of the methodology (20 points)
- addition of the findings to the knowledge and/or praxis in the field of librarianship (20 points)
- articulation of the conclusions emanating from the study (10 points)
- clarity and completeness (10 points)
The deadline for submission is January 31, 2017. Submissions must not have been published prior to January 31, 2017. The submissions will be limited to a 2,000-word abstract, excluding the bibliography or reference list, and should be e-mailed to Susan Rathbun-Grubb, Award Committee Chair, at srathbun@mailbox.sc.edu. Please include a title page with title of proposal and author contact information including name, institutional affiliation, mailing address and email address. Individuals may submit only one paper. Jointly authored proposals are acceptable, but all authors must be ALA members, and will split the award of $500.
All submissions that meet the deadline and the criteria will be considered. The proposals will undergo a blind-review process by a joint BPM/LRRT award committee. The award will be presented during one of LRRT’s research programs at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference, which will take place in Chicago from June 22 to June 27.