Awards for Excellence in Research & Creativity
Applications are now being accepted for Booth Library's awards program to promote and recognize excellence in student research. The program encourages students to use the wealth of information and resources available at Booth Library to enhance their studies.
The competition is open to all EIU undergraduate and graduate students in any major who are/were enrolled during the current academic year. Entries may be a research paper or thesis, artistic work, podcast, video, musical composition or other formats. As long as the student(s) used the library and its resources to complete the project, then it is eligible for the competition.
Entries must be submitted electronically no later than 11:59 p.m. CST March 2, 2023. Recipients will be selected by March 25, 2023, and the winners will be honored during the EIU Student Research and Creative Activity Day on March 31, 2023.
Award recipients will be selected based on the following:
- Use of library resources (25%): Review of the applicant’s explanation of the role that library spaces, materials, technologies, services and/or personnel played in the success of their project.
- Creativity/research (37.5%): Review of the applicant’s use of research (the number of resources, primary sources vs. secondary sources, unique sources, creative use of the research to support their conclusion, etc.).
- Overall excellence (37.5%): Review of the research project overall (clear argument/discussion, free of errors, adequate citations, original topic, clear conclusion, etc.).
A digital copy of award-winning entries will become part of the library’s institutional repository, The Keep.
For additional details and guidelines on the awards competition, see the Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creativity Guidelines. All entries must be submitted electronically to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Use the Submit An Entry link below, then Sign In with your EIU username and password, as highlighted in the screenshot below.