About
The McGill Library Undergraduate Research Awards were established in 2018 to promote the use of library services and resources in undergraduate research projects.
The awards are presented to undergraduate students who best demonstrate their use of library services and resources in the creation of a research project or creative work and who demonstrate an excellent understanding of the connection between research and library services and resources.
Awards will be presented in two areas: 1) Humanities, Social Sciences, Music, Law, and Management, and 2) Sciences and Engineering.
Students will submit:
1) A research project or creative work completed for a course or supervised research project;
2) an essay detailing how they used library services and/or resources in the creation of the project;
3) a letter of recommendation from the project advisor, thesis advisor, or course instructor.
The contest is open to all currently enrolled undergraduate students and whose projects meet the following requirements:
● Projects must be completed for a credit-bearing course or supervised research project some time during the current academic cycle (spring/summer 2017, fall 2017, and winter 2018 semesters).
● Projects must integrate library research.
● Projects and accompanying essay may be in any electronic format and must be submitted by email to awards.library [at] mcgill.ca
● Projects must be recommended in writing by a project advisor, thesis advisor, or course instructor.
● Projects may be completed in any medium (e.g., paper, video, painting, photograph, website, mobile application, etc.). However, all projects must be submitted online for consideration. Therefore, an electronic version of the project must be available for submission (e.g., PDF for paper, MP4 for video, JPG/TIFF for a painting or photograph, URL for website, etc.).
● Foreign-language projects are eligible. However, the application essay must be written in English or French.
● Projects completed by an individual or group are eligible. However, awards are presented to individuals, not to a group. Therefore, each group member must submit a separate essay outlining not only their use of library services and/or resources, but also their specific contribution to the group project. A separate letter of recommendation for each group member is also required.
● Senior thesis, honours thesis, and capstone project applicants may submit a representative sample of their project for consideration in order to meet the deadline; however, the final version of the project must be submitted to the Selection Committee by 11:59pm (EST) the day before the award ceremony. Any award winner who has not submitted a final version of their project by this deadline will forfeit their award.
Winners will be awarded a cash prize and have their winning project preserved in eScholarship, McGill’s institutional repository. Winners will be asked to briefly present their research at an awards ceremony held the last week of April.
Important Dates
Application Window Opens
February 26, 2018
Application Deadline
March 29, 2018 11:59pm (EST) Deadline Extended to April 8, 2018 11:59pm (EST)
Award Notifications
April 17, 2018
Award Levels
Humanities, Social Sciences, Music, Law, and Management
● 1st Place: $1,000
● Honorable Mention: $500
Sciences and Engineering
● 1st Place: $1000
● Honorable Mention: $500
Apply
1. Ask your Instructor or Advisor to Write and Submit a Letter of Recommendation
Ask your project advisor, thesis advisor, or course instructor to write and submit a letter of recommendation in support of your research project or creative work. The recommendation should address the following:
● Briefly describe the nature of their role as an advisor/supervisor of the student's project
● Comments on the quality of the research and the depth of inquiry demonstrated by the student's project
● How the student's use of library services and/or resources (such as physical collections, electronic collections, special collections, librarians, etc.) contributes to the outcome of this project
Note: It is your responsibility to ensure that your advisor submits the letter of recommendation before the deadline. If your advisor’s letter of recommendation is not received by the due date, your application is not eligible for consideration, even if your component was received on time.
Have your Advisor send the letter of recommendation to awards.library [at] mcgill.ca with your name in the subject line.
2. Write and Submit your Application Essay and Final Research Project
Write a 750–1,000 word essay in English or French about the library services and/or resources consulted in the creation of your research project or creative work. This project must have been completed for a credit-bearing course or supervised project some time during the current academic cycle (spring/summer 2017, fall 2017, and winter 2018 semesters), and must integrate library research. The essay should demonstrate a significant understanding of the research process and inquiry methods and focus on the unique contributions made by the resources of the McGill Library.
Submit two files to awards.library [at] mcgill.ca:
- Essay (Word doc or PDF) [Please save file as: Lastname_Essay_2018]
- Research project or creative work (e.g., Word doc or PDF for paper, MP4 for video, JPG/TIFF for a painting or photograph, URL for website, etc.) [Please save file as: Lastname_Project_2018]
FAQs
How are library services and resources defined?
Library services resources include, but are not necessarily limited to:
● Online library catalogues (e.g., WorldCat)
● Library electronic resources (e.g., ebooks, articles, databases)
● Library collections (e.g., books, audiovisual media, Rare Books and Special Collections, Archives)
● Particular people in the library (e.g., consultations with librarians or archivists)
● Particular spaces or places in the library (e.g., group study rooms, Research Commons)
● Particular technologies made available by the library (e.g., Raspberry Pi, printers, desktop applications)
How will the projects be judged?
The application essay and the research project or creative work will be judged on the following components:
● The use of library services and/or resources in the creation of your project (50%)
● Your understanding of the research process and the integration of information resources into your project. (25%)
● The strength of your writing (25%)
Are group/team projects eligible?
Yes. However, awards are presented to individuals, not to a group. Therefore, each group member must submit a separate essay outlining not only their use of library services and resources but also their specific contribution to the group project. Each group member must also submit a separate letter of recommendation.
Are foreign-language projects accepted?
Yes. However, the accompanying application essay must be written in English or French.
What is the difference between submitting a "representative of my project" and "the final version of my project?"
Senior thesis, honours thesis, and capstone project applicants may submit a representative sample of their project for consideration in order to meet the deadline; however, the final version of the project must be submitted to the Selection Committee by 11:59pm (EST) the day before the award ceremony. Any award winner who has not submitted a final version of their project by this deadline will forfeit their award.
