[Approved by Board: 10/31/91][revised 5/95][revised 10/96][revised 6/97]

UMI DOCTORAL DISSERTATION AWARD

The UMI Doctoral Dissertation Award was established in 1974 and is administered by the Information Science Education Committee. Beginning in 1997, University Microfilms International (UMI) undertook sponsorship of the award.

1. Nature of the Award

1.1 The award shall consist of an award of $1,000. Additionally, UMI will contribute $500 towards travel or other expenses to the grant recipient, contingent upon the recipient's attending the ASIST annual meeting, and a certificate. The winner may be given the opportunity to present a summary of the doctoral research at the Doctoral Forum.

1.2 If runners-up are designated, they will receive letters of "honorable mention," signed by the ASIST President, but shall not share in the award.

1.3 Travel reimbursements will be made 4-6 weeks after receipts are submitted to HQ.

2. Purpose of the Award

2.1 The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding recent doctoral candidates whose research contributes significantly to an understanding of some aspect of information science. The award is intended to encourage participation of new Ph.D.s in the activities of a professional association by providing a forum for presentation of their research and assisting them with some travel support.

3. Eligibility

3.1 Participation in the UMI Doctoral Dissertation Award is limited to those who have completed their doctorates since May of the year preceding that in which the award will be made.

3.2 Participation is not restricted to ASIST members.

3.3 Dissertations submitted shall fall within the scope of information science, including, but not limited to, any of the following areas of investigation:

. automated language processing

. classification research

. computerized retrieval services

. education for information science

. information analysis and evaluation

. information policy

. information services

. information storage and retrieval

. international information issues

. library automation and networks

. management of information

. office information systems

. information generation and publishing

. storage and retrieval technology

. user-online interaction

4. Administration

4.1 The UMI Doctoral Dissertation Award is sponsored by UMI and the Society-at-Large and is administered by the Information Science Education Committee.

5. Nominations

5.1 The competition for this award and how to enter the competition shall be publicized in ASIST publications.

5.2 The Jury Chair shall write letters to the Deans/Directors of schools granting the Ph.D. in library/information science and related disciplines, inviting them to encourage recent graduates of their programs to enter the competition. There is no limit on the number of entries from a particular school.

5.3 The nomination package shall consist of the entire dissertation, and a letter of endorsement from the nominee's dissertation advisor.

5.4 Nominations shall be addressed to UMI Doctoral Dissertation Award and mailed to ASIST Headquarters by June 15.

5.5 ASIST Headquarters shall maintain an archival file of all entries and send an appropriate number of copies to the Jury.

6. Jury Committee

6.1 The UMI Doctoral Dissertation Award Jury shall be composed of seven members who serve for one year. The Jury Chair is appointed by the Chair of the Information Science Education Committee. The other five members of the Jury are selected from ASIST membership by the Chair of the Information Science Education Committee.

6.2 Members of the Jury may be reappointed once.

6.3 In the absence of qualified nominations, the Jury may act as a nominating committee by soliciting additional nominations and extending the deadline for nominations.

7. Selection of the Awardee

7.1 The Jury shall base its evaluation of the dissertation research submitted on the following criteria:

(a) Importance of the topic to theory development and/or practical applications in information science;

(b) soundness of methodology;

(d) quality of data (when applicable).

7.2 The Jury shall use the following rating scale to score each of the criteria:

1 = outstanding

2 = good

3 = average

4 = below average

5 = poor

7.3 The Jury shall rate each submission using the UMI Doctoral Dissertation Evaluation Form and return all evaluations to the Jury Chair.

7.4 The Jury Chair shall compile the results and rank the contestants.

7.5 There will be one winner selected.

7.6 In the event that the Jury decides that none of the submitted dissertations should be recognized, no award may be given that year.

7.7 The Jury Chair shall communicate the jury's decision to UMI, the ASIST President, the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee, the chair of the Information Science Education Committee, and the ASIST Executive Director.

7.8 The Jury Chair shall provide a 50-250 word abstract, stating why the award was given. This abstract will be used to publicize the award. Material for this abstract can be taken from the voting rationales provided by the members of the jury.

7.9 The Jury Chair shall submit the nomination packets and the results of jury deliberations to ASIST Headquarters, after selection of the awardee(s) has been completed.

7.10 The ASIST Executive Director shall notify the author(s) of the winning dissertation, in advance of the ASIST annual meeting.

8. Presentation of the Award

8.1 The award shall be presented to the winner by the Chair of the Information Science Education Committee at the Annual Banquet.

9. Publicity

9.1 The award shall be publicized in the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, in the newsletters of the SIGs and/ or chapters with which the winner is affiliated. Publicity is the responsibility of ASIST Headquarters.

10. Deadlines

10.1 Appointments to the Jury Committee shall be made in advance of the award year and not later than the start of the ASIST annual meeting.

10.2 Nominations must be submitted to ASIST Headquarters by June 15. All nominations submitted shall be acknowledged upon receipt.

10.3 Selection shall be made and the ASIST President, the Chair of the Information Science Education Committee, the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee, UMI, and the ASIST Executive Director shall be notified by 90 days before the start of the ASIST annual meeting.