This award recognizes and cultivates students’ critical information research skills and appropriate use of information. The award consists of a cash prize of $200 sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Library System. The awardee will be honored publicly and asked to present their speech during the Symposium for the Promotion of Academic and Creative Enquiry (SPACE) – University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s annual undergraduate research conference held in the month of April.
Eligibility
Pitt-Johnstown students who successfully completed the university’s COMMRC 0052 Public Speaking course in the most previous Spring and Fall terms are eligible for the award.
Nominations
Each course instructor is invited to nominate the eligible student who gave the best researched persuasive speech from their combined sections per term.
Selection Procedures
Students who are nominated for this award will be invited to submit a video recording of their speech and accompanying works cited and works consulted pages. These materials must be received by the designated date for that year.
The Awards Committee is composed of the Owen Library librarians. The Committee will review the submitted entries for evidence of quality research based on the criteria listed below and select one awardee. Each criterion is equally weighted.
- Credibility of sources
- Relevance of sources to the context of the speech topic
- Strength of evidence for claims made, including addressing any identified counterarguments
- Currentness of sources as appropriate to the speech topic
- The Scope of the speech topic reflects the use of a focused research question
- Attribution given for all original ideas and work of others
- Citations provide the essential information needed to find and access sources cited
