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SIG Publication of the Year Award

The Best SIG Publication Award was established in 1991. It is administered by the SIG Cabinet.

1. Nature of the Award

1.1 The award shall consist of a certificate to be presented to the Communications Officer and the Chair of the winning SIG and other SIG members associated with the publication, e.g., the author(s) of a SIG Transactions. The award shall be presented by the SIG Cabinet Director during the SIG Cabinet Meeting (held during the ASIS&T annual meeting).

2. Purpose of the Award

2.1 The purpose of this award is to recognize the best publication produced by a SIG (or jointly by two or more SIGs) during the previous year (July-June).

3. Eligibility

3.1 Any type of SIG Publication is eligible, including newsletters, transactions, directories, or other publications. To be considered, a publication must be in a format that is readable/usable by the jury members. Any electronic and/or self-published material should be sent to HQ in order to be considered.

3.2 Each year, the Jury shall consider publications produced between July 1 of the previous year and June 30 of the current year.

4. Administration

4.1 The Best SIG Publication Award is sponsored by the Society-at-Large and is administered by the SIG Cabinet.

5. Nominations

5.1 The SIG Annual Activities Report and SIG-Publication-of-the-Year Criteria and Check-list and attached documentation shall comprise the nomination package.

5.2 Nominations shall be submitted through the SIG Annual Reporting process.

6. Jury Committee

6.1 The SIG Cabinet Steering Committee shall serve as the Jury for this award, with the Deputy SIG Cabinet Director serving as Jury Chair.

6.2 If any Jury member has been nominated for this award, the Jury Chair shall appoint another member from the SIG Cabinet (Representatives or Alternates) to serve on the Jury, in place of the nominee.

6.3 If the Jury Chair has been nominated for this award, the SIG Cabinet Director shall serve as Jury Chair and shall appoint another member of the SIG Cabinet to serve on the Jury, in place of the nominee.

7. Selection of the Awardee

7.1 The criteria by which publications shall be evaluated include:
(a) Relevance for the SIG members;
(b) Societal or scholarly significance of the topic discussed;
(c) Creativity and originality of the content;
(d) Clarity of expression; and
(e) Presentation quality.

7.2 Because of the large number of publications which must be considered, the selection process shall proceed in two phases.

7.3 In the first phase, the Jury shall select a small number of publications of high quality. In this phase, each member of the Jury may nominate up to two publications for consideration.

7.4 The second phase encompasses consideration of only those publications selected in the first phase. In the second phase, each member of the Jury shall vote for one publication which s/he believes should receive the award. Each member of the Jury shall have one vote. Each Jury member’s vote must be accompanied by a brief (one-paragraph) rationale for the choice.

7.5 If the vote is not unanimous, the Jury shall decide if more than one award should be given. If necessary, run-off votes may be taken or the Jury Chair may convene a conference call to resolve the decision.

7.6 If there are no appropriate candidates, the award need not be given in a particular year.

7.7 The Jury Chair shall communicate the jury’s decision to the ASIS&T President, the SIG Cabinet Director, the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee, the ASIS&T Executive Director, and the recipients of the award prior to the annual meeting. Prior notification will allow the recipients to be present to accept their awards.

7.8 The Jury Chair shall provide a 50-250 word abstract, stating why the award was given. This abstract will be used to publicize the award. Material for this abstract can be taken from the voting rationales provided by the members of the Jury.

7.9 The Jury Chair shall submit the results of Jury deliberations to ASIS&T Headquarters, after the selection of the awardees has been completed.

8. Presentation of the Award

8.1 The award shall be presented to the winner(s) by the SIG Cabinet Director during the SIG Cabinet meeting (held during the ASIS&T Annual Meeting).

9. Publicity

9.1 The award shall be publicized through Inside ASIS&T and the association's website. Publicity is the responsibility of ASIS&T Headquarters.

10. Deadlines

10.1 Appointments to the Jury Committee shall be made in advance of the award year and not later than the start of the ASIS&T annual meeting.

10.2 Selection shall be made and the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee and the ASIS&T Executive Director shall be notified that a winner has been declared by 30 days before the start of the ASIS&T annual meeting.