2013 Undergraduate Library Research Award

Hesburgh Libraries and The Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) are pleased to announce the 2013 Undergraduate Library Research Award, which aims to promote intellectual discovery and advancement of lifelong learning.  The purpose of this award is to recognize undergraduates who demonstrate excellent research skills and who incorporate library resources, collections and services into their scholarly and creative projects.

Six prizes will be awarded: 

• Undergraduates submitting Senior or Honors Theses projects:

• one first prize of $1,000
• one honorable mention of $500.

• Undergraduates submitting work from 20000 through 40000 level classes (excluding Theses):

• one first prize of $500 
•  one honorable mention of $250.

• Undergraduates submitting work from 10000 level classes:

• one first prize of $500 
•  one honorable mention of $250.

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions will be judged by teaching and research faculty and librarians not only on the intellectual merit and demonstration that the work meets the highest standards of its field, but also how well the project and the essay demonstrate the following weighted criteria:

[50% of overall judging merit] Understanding and application of principles of information literacy such as:

• locating, evaluating and analyzing information, 
• managing, organizing and synthesizing information,
• applying information in the context of the research project
• providing appropriate and accurate citations and credits

[25% of overall judging merit] Extensive and creative use of Notre Dame Library resources including, but not limited to:

• library services,
• printed resources,
• databases and other electronic collections,
• manuscripts, archival or special collections

[25% of overall judging merit] Clarity of writing, persuasiveness of argumentation, depth of inquiry and organization of project material.

Award notification and presentation

• Notification of award will be during the last week of April, 2013.

• Presentation of award(s) will take place during the Undergraduate Scholars Conference in early May, 2013.  Award recipients will be expected to present their winning entries as part of an oral session at the Conference.