ALISE/The Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Competition
(DEADLINE - June 30, 2009)
The Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) is now accepting proposals for its 2010 Doctoral Dissertation Award Competition. Up to two outstanding dissertations completed between December 15, 2007 and June 30, 2009 will be selected. Each winner will receive $500, plus 2010 conference registration and personal membership in ALISE for 2010. Winners of the Dissertation Competition will present a summary of their work at the 2011 ALISE annual meeting.
Doctoral students who have recently graduated in any field of study, or who will have completed their dissertations by the above deadline, are invited to submit two complete copies of their dissertation. Dissertations must deal with substantive issues related to library and information science, but applicants may be from within or outside LIS programs.
Submission Requirements
- Two complete copies of the dissertation, and abstract of 200 words, and an email/postal return address must be submitted to the address given at the end of this notice.
- The dissertation must have been accepted by the university within the 18 months preceding the deadline for submissions and must not have been submitted for any other ALISE award during the year it is submitted for the Eugene Garfield-ALISE Doctoral Dissertation Award. For the 2010 award, the acceptance time frame is December 15, 2007 through June 30, 2009.
- The dissertation must be accompanied by proof of university acceptance, or by a letter from the dissertation advisor indicating the dissertation has been submitted to the university and will meet the university acceptance deadline requirement.
Judging
The ALISE Research Committee will judge the dissertations. In cases where the research or methodology warrants it, additional assistance will be obtained from ALISE members outside the committee. Dissertations will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Significance of the research problem to the overall LIS field
- Presentation of the relevant literature
- Design of the study (i.e., appropriateness of methodology, selection of specific techniques and/or tests)
- Conduct of study (i.e., application of methods of data collection).
- Analysis and presentation of the data (i.e., quality of analysis, logic of findings)
- Appropriateness of conclusions
- Clarity and organization of the writing
The committee reserves the right to select no winning dissertation if in its judgment none of the submissions are considered satisfactory. Previous outstanding dissertations exhibited these characteristics:
- Good writing
- Strong synthesis of the literature
- Well-developed discussion of potential problems with frameworks, theories, models, and definitions used in the research-along with discussion of how the dissertation would overcome limitations
- Constraints on generalizing beyond the data provided or the study as designed
- Clear explanation of validity/appropriateness issues
- Discussion depth beyond a repeat of findings
- Answers to the "so what?" question
Two complete copies, including an abstract of no more than 200 words, evidence of acceptance, and an email/postal return address, must be postmarked no later than June 30, 2009 and sent to:
Attn: ALISE Res Com Awards
65 East Wacker Place, Suite 1900
Chicago, IL 60601-7246
Previous Winners
| 2009 | Xiaojun Yuan (Rutgers University): "Supporting multiple information-seeking strategies in a single system framework" |
| 2008 | Kara Anne Reuter (University of Maryland): "Children Selecting Books in a Library: Extending Models of Information Behavior to a Recreational Setting" |
| 2007 | Kate Williams, “Social Networks, Social Capital, and the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Socially Excluded Communities: A Study of Community Groups in Manchester, England,” Dominican University (Dissertation completed at Michigan University) |
| 2006 |
Diane Kelly, "Understanding implicit feedback and documents preference: A naturalistic user study," University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
|
| 2005 |
Paulette M. Rothbauer, "Finding and Creating Possibility: Reading in the Lives of Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Young Women," University of Western Ontario, 2004. Betsy Van der Veer Martens, "Theories at Work: Functional Characteristics of Theories That Facilitate Their Diffusion Over Time," Syracuse University, 2004. |
| 2004 |
Samuel E. Trosow, "Information for Society: Towards a Critical Theory of Intellectual Property Policy," University of California, LA, 2002 Kalpana Shankar, "Scientists, Records, and the Practical Politics of Infrastructure," University of California, LA, 2002. |
| 2003 | Karen Frances Gracy (UCLA), "The Imperative to Preserve: Competing Definitions of Value in the World of Film Preservation", 2001. |
| 2002 | Soo Young Rieh, "Information Quality and Cognitive Authority in the World Wide Web," Rutgers University Bradley R. Taylor, " The Effect of Surrogation on Viewer Response to Expressional Qualities in Works of Art," School of Information & Library Science, The University of Michigan |
| 2001 |
Patricia Coit Murphy, "What a Book Can Do: Silent Spring and Media-Borne Public Debate," School on Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ALISE Dissertation Award Certificates of Recognition: |
| 2000 |
Cheryl Cowan Buchwald, "Canada's Coalition for Public Information: A Case Study of a Public Interest Group in the Information Highway Policy Making Process," Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, 1999 ALISE Dissertation Award Certificates of Recognition: |
| 1999 | Hong Xie (Rutgers), "Planned and Situated Aspects in Interactive IR: Patterns of User Interactive Intentions and Information Seeking Strategies." |
| 1998 | Elizabeth Yakel, Pittsburgh, "Record Keeping in Radiology: The Relationships Between Activities and Records in Radiological Processes" Mary K. Chelton, Rutgers, "Adult-Adolescent Service Encounters: The Library Context." |
| 1997 | Lynne McKechnie, University of Western Ontario. "Opening the 'Preschooler's Door to Learning': An Ethnographic Study of the Use of Public Libraries by Preschool Girls." |
| 1996 | Danuta A. Nitecki, University of Maryland, for "An Assessment of the Applicability of SERVQUAL Dimensions...for Evaluating Quality of Services in an Academic Library." |
UPDATED: 03/10/2009
