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Travel Awards Available for Underrepresented Professionals for Library Assessment Conference—Deadline August 3, 2018

2016 travel award recipients and ARL staff, from left: Elliott Shore (ARL), Hoan-Vu Do, Enrique Caboverde III, Vanissa Gosserand, Kawanna Bright, Sofia Leung, Don P. Jason III, Jennifer Gibson, Sue Baughman (ARL), Richard Cho (Not pictured: Linda Garcia, Genny Jon)

The Library Assessment Conference builds and furthers the library assessment community by bringing together interested practitioners and researchers who have responsibility or interest in the broad field of library assessment. Since 2014, scholarships have been awarded to individuals from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to attend the conference. Ten $1,000 scholarships will be awarded for attendance at the 2018 Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment in Houston, Texas, December 5–7. Each award will include conference registration plus $1,000 to cover travel costs and/or workshop registration fees. 

The conference’s goal in awarding these travel scholarships is to encourage conference participants to engage with others in the library assessment community to enrich their knowledge and skills in methodologies, research, and evaluation.

“The Library Assessment Conference showed me innovative and creative ways to assess the needs of library users and how well the library is meeting those needs,” said Linda Garcia, travel award recipient in 2016 and access services librarian at Montana State University Billings. “Thanks to the travel award, I was able to afford this eye-opening experience!”

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible applicants are:

  • students enrolled in a graduate program;
  • fellows participating in one of ARL’s diversity recruitment programs; or
  • library professionals within the first three years of their professional careers.

Selection Criteria

The selection criteria for the scholarship are:

  • diverse representation—eligible classifications include those outlined by the US Census Bureau and Statistics Canada as well as Native, Aboriginal, and Indigenous classifications;
  • a record of strong interest in assessment demonstrated by related coursework or activities; and
  • potential to contribute to the profession by deploying and developing innovative assessment and evaluation methods and strategies. In particular, exceptional applications will exhibit strong creativity and passion in this area.

Benefits and Responsibilities

The $1,000 scholarship is to cover registration fees for any of the pre- and/or post-conference workshops, air and ground transportation, hotel accommodations, and meals. Awardees will be responsible for:

  • making arrangements for travel and hotel accommodations;
  • paying for any meals above and beyond what is covered by the scholarship; and
  • registering for the conference and selecting invoice as the payment option—the conference will cover the registration fee.

The awardees will also be asked to collaborate and write an issue brief highlighting key themes from their conference experience and their overall experience. ARL will publish the issue brief on its website. Awardees are also encouraged to use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media during the event and contribute to a shared Google doc for collective note-taking.

Applications

Apply online by 11:59 p.m. Pacific daylight time on Friday, August 3, 2018. The selection committee—composed of members of the ARL Assessment Committee, conference steering committee, and past travel award winners—will notify applicants of selection decisions the week of August 20.

Each applicant must provide:

  • a statement of interest (400 words maximum) that describes how attending the Library Assessment Conference supports their learning and development goals;
  • a résumé or CV; and
  • a recommendation letter from a faculty member or supervisor.

About the Library Assessment Conference

The goal of the Library Assessment Conference is to build and further a vibrant library assessment community by bringing together interested practitioners and researchers who have responsibility or interest in the broad field of library assessment. The event provides a mix of invited speakers, contributed papers, posters, and pre-conference workshops that stimulate discussion and provide workable ideas for effective, sustainable, and practical library assessment. Sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries and the University of Washington Libraries, the conference has been held biennially since 2006 and attracts more than 600 participants. The Library Assessment Conference is on the web at libraryassessment.org.

About the Association of Research Libraries

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promotes equity and diversity, and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.

About the University of Washington Libraries

The University of Washington (UW) Libraries, located in Seattle, is the largest library in the Pacific Northwest. The UW Libraries is well-known for its innovative programs and services in assessment, organizational development, user spaces, and institutional collaboration. Its print and digital collections support world-class research and scholarship in such areas as health sciences, environmental sciences, area and language studies, and the Pacific Northwest. UW Libraries is on the web at www.lib.washington.edu.

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