Nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 Gale Cengage Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Services, a Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) award that recognizes outstanding achievements in these areas.

Established in 1990 and sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, the award is given to a library or library system for developing an imaginative and unique resource to meet patrons’ reference needs. The resource can be a bibliography, a guide to the literature of a specific subject, a directory, a database, or any other project that has helped the library meet adult or children’s reference needs. Tools, guides or databases that have been developed for reader’s advisory or adult service questions and needs are also eligible for the award.

Nominations for the 2010 award should be submitted via e-mail or U.S. mail to Julia Gelfand, award committee chair. Submitted materials should include a letter of nomination stating in detail how the resource has contributed to meeting patrons’ reference needs. The letter should include a description of the resource and its format, CD, Database, example of media, software, game, kit, etc.; sufficient information to examine and review the product and its target audience; a list of sources used to compile the resource and criteria used in selecting material for inclusion; the breadth of coverage, i.e. time and subject, of the resource; and an explanation of what makes the resource imaginative or unique. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. A sample of the resource (or entry, pages, printout, etc.) must accompany the nomination.

All nominations must be received by December 15. The winner will receive a citation and $3,000 cash prize at the RUSA Awards Ceremony on the Monday of the ALA Annual Conference, next scheduled for Jun. 24-29, 2010 in Washington, D.C.