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IU faculty members are encouraged to nominate outstanding undergraduate students for the Sam Burgess Undergraduate Student Library Research Award.

Students should demonstrate extraordinary skill and creativity in the application of the services and collections of IU Libraries as part of a research project. Two students are recognized annually, with awards granted in the respective amounts of $1000 and $500.

To nominate a student, the supervising faculty member must complete the nomination form (PDF) and provide a letter of support. Both of these should be given to the nominated student to include in the application packet (PDF).

All application materials are due by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 9, 2011.

Submissions will be evaluated by a faculty panel that includes members of the Bloomington Faculty Council Library Committee as well as two librarians. The winners will be announced in late Fall 2011.

Student Eligibility

To be eligible, student nominees must:

• Be currently enrolled as an IU undergraduate at any class level and in any discipline,
• Have completed their research paper for a credit course at IU during the 2010-2011 academic year,
• Agree that the paper and application materials will become property of IU Libraries and may be publicly displayed or included in IUScholarWorks, IU’s  digital research repository, and
• Perform individual research (group papers are not eligible).

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions will be judged based on how well they demonstrate the following:

• Sophistication, originality and/or unusual depth or breadth in the use of library resources and collections in any format,
• Effective application of information literacy principles:
• Determining information needs
• Evaluating and analyzing information
• Managing, organizing, and synthesizing information
• Applying information in the context of the research paper
• Communicating information in formats appropriate to an academic audience
• Making responsible use of information by providing appropriate and accurate citations and credits, and
• Evidence of significant personal learning and an understanding of the process of research and inquiry