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Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award: Home

Deadlines and important dates:

Deadlines and Important Dates

  • All application materials are due by 11:59 pm on April 8, 2019.
  • The winner will be announced on April 19, 2019.

Application Materials Checklist

  • A completed application form.
  • A 700-1000 word abstract introducing the research question being answered by the submission. Include a discussion of hypotheses, methodology and/or results when appropriate.
  • A 500-1000 word reflective essay describing your research strategies, and use of library tools and resources.
  • A final version of the research paper, project or poster presentation.
  • A bibliography or other appropriate list of sources consulted/works cited.
  • A statement of support from the UIS faculty member who taught the course or administered the research project for which the paper/project/poster was originally submitted.

Award Contact Information

John Laubersheimer's picture
John Laubersheimer
Contact:
BRK 233
laubersh@uis.edu
Website

Purpose

Undergraduate research, scholarly and creative activities are foundational components of a complete liberal arts education. With this in mind, Brookens Library is pleased to announce our fifth annual Undergraduate Library Research Award. 

This award was created to recognize and reward UIS undergraduate students whose academic work incorporates the use of Brookens Library’s collections and services and demonstrates exceptional information literacy skills. In addition to recognition at UIS, the award includes a monetary prize of $250 for first place, $100 for second place, and $50 for third place.

Important Information

How to Apply

Application for the Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award is a Two-step Process:

Step 1) Fill out the online application form here:  https://uofi.uis.edu/fb/sec/1048711

Step 2) One of the Brookens Librarians will contact you to arrange for you to electronically submit your materials using Box.com

Respectfully, we request that you do not send in your project materials until instructed to do so.

Eligibility

The Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award is open to undergraduate students enrolled at University of Illinois Springfield in any academic level for the current academic year.  

  • All disciplines are eligible.
  • The paper, project or poster must be tied to a specific UIS course or other appropriate undergraduate research projects.
  • Submissions must be from the current or previous academic year.
  • Individual or team submissions are allowed (in the event a team submission wins the award, the prize will be split among the team members).
  • The paper, project or poster must be completed by the application deadline.
  • All submissions must contain an element of library research that demonstrates the use of primary and/or secondary sources. This could be a literature review, an annotated bibliography or other means of documentation appropriate to the project submitted.
  • The submitted paper or project must have a reference list (works cited).
  • All applicants must agree to give the library permission to upload winning papers/projects to the campus institutional repository (IDEALS).
  • Previous Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award winners are, sadly, ineligible for consideration.
  • Special Note:  Though the awards presentation typically happens at the STARS luncheon, presenting at STARS is NOT a requirement. The Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award is open to all academic projects.

Evaluation Criteria

A committee comprised of librarians and UIS faculty members from different disciplines will judge all submissions using the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated ability to select, evaluate, and synthesize appropriate library resources and successfully use them in the creation of a research project or paper.
  • Evidence of significant scholastic and/or personal learning and the development of a steady research pattern or habits that can be utilized in future academic endeavors.
  • Ability to describe and analyze the applicant’s research strategies, techniques, and learning process.
  • Originality/uniqueness of the project/topic, mastery of content (appropriate to class level), clear writing, and overall quality of the project.

The scoring rubric that will be used for judging can be found here: