Jesse H. Shera Award for the Support of Dissertation Research
Call for Submissions
The Library Research Round Table of the American Library Association announces the 2016 Jesse H. Shera Award for the Support of Dissertation Research. This award provides recognition for proposed dissertation research employing exemplary
research design and methods. The deadline for submitting entries is January 31, 2016. The LRRT Shera Award Committee will judge the entries for the competition. The decision of the Committee will be announced by the LRRT Steering Committee Chair, prior
to the Annual Conference.
Guidelines
1.
The award is restricted to research designs that have been approved by the doctoral candidate’s dissertation committee and that are about to be employed or are in the initial stage of use. Completed research is not eligible for consideration.
2.
Any research design is acceptable, but the topic of the research must relate in at least a general way to library and information studies.
3.
Candidates should submit a two-part paper based on their approved dissertation proposal:
·
A brief problem statement not to exceed 500 words.
·
A summary of the design/methodology portion of their dissertation proposal, not to exceed 2,500 words.
·
A brief statement from the dissertation committee chair, supporting and approving the research.
4.
Candidates for this award need not be LRRT members.
5.
Papers will be evaluated in a double-blind, peer review process, on the basis of the following criteria:
·
Clarity of the research design.
·
The appropriateness of the design and method(s) for the research problem.
·
Adequacy of the description of the methodological procedures.
·
The inclusion of definitions of important terms where needed.
·
The adequacy of the data collection instrument(s) or technique(s).
·
Appropriateness of the proposed data analysis for the research problem and methods.
·
Innovation of the research design.
6.
The winner of the award will receive a Certificate and $250.
To submit a paper for the 2016 competition, e-mail
2 copies (one in which your name and any other identifying information has been removed) in PDF format to:
[log in to unmask] with the subject line: Shera Award, Dissertation Research
Susan Rathbun-Grubb, MSLS, PhD – Chair, Shera Award Committee, LRRT
Assistant Professor
School of Library and Information Science
University of South Carolina
1501 Greene St.
Columbia, SC 29208
803.777.0485