The document summarizes an award that recognizes excellence in information literacy. It provides details on the award's history since 2007, past winners from 2008-2017, the nomination and judging process, and short biographies of the 2018 nominees. The award aims to encourage and recognize good practice in developing information literacy skills.

1. Rewarding excellence:
the Information Literacy Award

2. Award milestones
What the IL experts say
Winners 2008-2012
Winners 2013-2017
How it all works
The judging process demystified
2018 nominees (Paul Biggs & Veronica Cunning
2018 nominees (Emily Hurt & Lucy Roper)
The future
Index

3. Award milestones
2007 IL Practitioner of the Year award established by the former CILIP Community
Services Group, Information Literacy Group chaired by Debbi
Boden-Angell. Originally aimed exclusively at ‘practitioners’.
2008 The first award attracted 16 nominations and was presented to Nigel Morgan
(Cardiff University) on March 18th at LILAC in Liverpool
2009 Dr. Gayner Eyre (Head of Information Studies, Aberystwyth) chosen as regular
judge to work alongside IL authorities in each new LILAC venue. (Gayner designed the
rigorous assessment rubric which is used each year.)
2013 Kim McGowan (University of Lancaster) becomes the first female recipient
(the first 5 winners were male, the next 5 winners were all female!)
2014 New criteria were introduced. Researchers became eligible for the first time.
Renamed the Information Literacy Award.
2017 At the 10th anniversary ceremony, Helen Howard (formerly University of Leeds) Back to index
www.awardco.co.uk/

4. What the IL experts say
“The Award’s purpose is to encourage and embed good practice in library and
information programmes throughout the UK, to spread the word regarding the
meaning and importance of IL, and to exemplify excellence in its execution.”
(Dr. Gayner Eyre, Judge 2009-2018)
“The Award is a recognition of excellent practice in the field. It’s a reflection of the
wonderful work librarians and information professionals do to support lifelong learning
and empower their communities, which often goes unsung. IL is about excellence in
teaching, but it’s also a commitment to the values of the profession, providing access
to information and knowledge and equipping people with the skills to evaluate,
manage and use their knowledge to achieve their life goals.”
(Dr. Jane Secker, CILIP Information Literacy Group chair)
“It was wonderful to win the award and gain recognition for my work and that of my
whole team on developing students’ information literacy and academic skills. It raised
our profile both within our institution [University of Leeds] and beyond which was
great.” Back to index

5. Past winners
Winners 2008-2012
Back to index

6. Past winners
Winners 2013-2017
Back to index

7. Nominations open early January
Widely advertised via website, social media and CILIP channels
Nominations received by the awards officer are forwarded to the
judges after the February deadline
Initial evaluation by judges. Shortlist announced on LILAC website.
Main judging process gets underway (1-2 weeks)
Result communicated to awards officer
Yay! Winner is presented with trophy and £1000 prize
(£500 must go to charity) at the LILAC dinner.
How it all works
Nomination documents must
present evidence from the past 3
yrs in one or more categories :
• Raising the profile of IL
within an organisation /
community
• Initiating or contributing
to national, regional or
local projects / initiatives
which enhance IL skills for
an identified client
group(s)
• Undertaking original
research in IL and making
a significant contribution
to the literature.
(Nominations come from
colleagues, heads of service, line
managers or are self-nominated.)
Back to index

8. • The panel consists of a leading IL authority and
an expert from the region in which LILAC is held
• Nominations are evaluated in the following
categories:
• Raising the profile of IL
• Quality / extent of output
• Evidence of impact
• Innovation
• Evidence of commitment to sharing expertise
/ disseminating research
• Nominees are scored independently by each
judge using the official tried & tested rubric (see
right)
• Judges meet to compare views, discuss scoring,
and agree a winner (the decision is always
unanimous!)
• The judges’ combined rubric grid is forwarded to
the awards officer
The judging process –
demystified
Back to index

9. Shortlisted nominees
2018
Paul Biggs (Academic Skills Tutor Librarian, Staffordshire University)
Recent achievements:
• Intensive use of innovative online resources to scaffold learning, linked to the VLE in Life Science
& Education, and Social Work
• Shares knowledge and experience through regular blog posts on IRIS (Staffordshire University’s
intranet)
• High impact teaching with outstanding feedback from academic partners
• Excellent track record of raising the profile of IL amongst students & upskilling staff.
Veronica Cunningham (Independent IL consultant and researcher)
Recent achievements:
• Raising the profile of IL within the national / international school communities by initiating
and contributing to international school initiatives to enhance parent, student and faculty IL skills
• Innovative research for PhD in Information Science at Robert Gordon University discovering how
stakeholder groups across a school community defined and understood IL & using insights gained
to inform IL education http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2464
• Shared and presented her research to national and international audiences in UK, Europe and India.
Back to index

10. Shortlisted nominees
2018
Emily Hurt (Clinical Librarian, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)
Recent achievements:
• Devised and conducted a research project which met organisational needs for encouraging
under-represented groups (nurses, midwives and allied health professionals) to become research
active
• Her ILG-funded research project “Facilitating research amongst radiographers through Information
Literacy workshops” (FARRIL) is now embedded within the service as the Research Engagement
Programme
• Extensive dissemination of research findings at national conferences and in the literature.
Lucy Roper (Information Governance Manager, University College of Estate Management)
Recent achievements:
• Works in partnership with, and provides advisory support to tutors and education technologists
in design & development of courses for online delivery
• Provides ebulletin and research report services to the organisation. Superb track record in staff
training and contributes to the development of new modules
• Extensive involvement in student-focussed initiatives including Student Engagement Advisory GroupBack to index

11. The future
The future …
The Award continues to evolve. It is now recognised
as the most prestigious in the IL field within the
United Kingdom.
The 2019 Award will be launched in January next
year. We have some exciting new developments
planned. Look out for the announcements. It is not
too early to start thinking about your nominations!
The CILIP IL Group look forward to rewarding the
very best in IL innovation and talent for many years
to come.
Nigel Morgan (LILAC Awards Officer)
LilacAwards@Cardiff.ac.uk
Back to index
2018 co-sponsor