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The Elfreda A. Chatman Research Award was established in 2005 and is administered by the SIG USE Awards Committee. It is sponsored by SIG USE.

1. Nature of the Award  

1.1 The award shall consist of a Certificate for the winning author (and each co-author) and a check for $1,000. 

2. Purpose of the Award

2.1 The purpose of the award is to recognize the best research proposal that falls within the scope of information behavior. Information behavior is broadly defined to include how people construct, need, seek, manage, share, and use information in different contexts.

3. Eligibility

3.1 At least one author of the winning proposal must be a current member of SIG USE at the time of application.

3.2 The proposal must fall within the scope of information behavior (how people construct, need, seek, manage, give and use information in different contexts). The behavior of real people engaged in information activities (in contrast to imagined or presumed users) must be a central part of the research proposal for it to be considered for the award. The proposal must describe research that will be completed within one year of receiving the award. The winning author is expected to report on their findings at the subsequent SIG USE Research Symposium at the ASIST annual conference.

3.3 The award is not a once-in-a-lifetime award.

3.4 The proposal cannot be based on a PhD dissertation proposal.

3.5 At least one author of the winning proposal must attend the SIG USE awards ceremony in order to be eligible to receive the award.

4. Administration

The Elfreda A. Chatman Research Award is sponsored by SIG USE and is administered by the SIG USE Awards Committee.

5. Nominations

5.1 Nominations should be submitted via email to the Awards Co-Chairs by the deadline of Sunday, July 23, 2023.

5.2 Applications will be forwarded to the Jury without author identification. Therefore, the applicant’s name, address and academic affiliation should not appear on the proposal itself, but only in the application form, which should identify the attached proposal as being submitted specifically for this award.

5.3 In summary, the application package should include:

a) An application form (download), stating: the author’s name, address, email, and academic affiliation; and that the attached proposal is being submitted for the Elfreda A. Chatman Research Award.

b) The research proposal (maximum 2,500 words) addressing an information behavior problem, and carrying no applicant identification. And

c) A short budget showing how the research funds would be spent.

6. SIG USE Awards Jury Committee

6.1 The SIG USE Awards Jury is composed of 5-7 members for each award category, and are appointed by the SIG USE Awards Committee. It is highly desirable to have among the members of the Jury individuals who are broadly and historically knowledgeable about the information behavior field, e.g., former chairs of SIG USE and long-standing members of the research and professional community.

6.2 Authors of proposals submitted for this award are not eligible to serve on the Jury.

6.3 In the absence of qualified proposals, the Jury may refrain from granting the award in that year.

7. Selection of the Awardee

7.1 The content of each eligible proposal shall be appraised in terms of the significance of the research problem, the thoroughness of the literature review, formulation of the research questions and objectives, the appropriateness of the methodology, potential significance of the findings, originality, clarity of expression, and structure of the budget and 12 month timeline.

7.2 The maximum number of points that can be given to a proposal is 100. The highest score for each of the evaluation criteria is:

– significance of the research problem – 15

– the thoroughness of the literature review – 10

– formulation of the research questions and objectives – 10

– appropriateness of the methodology – 20

– potential significance of the findings – 10

– originality – 15

– clarity of expression – 10

– structure of the budget and timeline – 10

Reviewers will also provide a qualitative assessment of 50 to 250 words on the merits of the proposal.

7.3 Each Jury member assigns points to each eligible proposal assigned to them for review, based on the criteria used to evaluate it, and transmits the scores and qualitative assessments for each proposal to the SIG USE Awards Committee.

7.4 The SIG USE Awards Committee totals the points from all jurors, and the winner is the proposal with the highest total score, with an average score of at least 80 points. In cases of a tie, the tying nominees should be re-evaluated.

7.5 The SIG USE Awards Committee shall communicate the jury’s decision to the Chair of SIG USE, the ASIST President, the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee, and the ASIST Executive Director.

7.6 The SIG USE Awards Committee shall provide a 50-250 word abstract, stating why the award was given. The abstract will be used to publicize the award. Material for this abstract can be taken from the voting rationales provided by members of the jury.

7.7 The SIG USE Chair shall notify the author of the winning proposal in advance of the ASIST meeting.

7.9 The winning author is expected to report on their findings at the SIG USE Research Symposium at the subsequent ASIST annual conference.

8. Presentation of the Award

The award shall be announced and presented to the winning author by the SIG USE Awards Committee during the SIG USE Annual Research Symposium at the annual meeting of the Society.

9. Publicity

The award shall be publicized in the SIG USE listserv and web site and SIG USE social media sites, and any chapter with which the winner is affiliated.

10. Deadlines

10.1 The Jury Committee shall be assembled in June 2023.

10.2 Proposals must be submitted to SIG USE (see 5.1) by the posted deadline.

10.3 Selection shall be made and the ASIST President, the ASIST Director and the Chair of SIG USE shall be notified at least two weeks before the start of the ASIST annual meeting.