Denise Beaubian Bennett
Pamela S. Cenzer
Paul Kirk

2006 Reference Service Press
Award Winners

The 2006 winners of the Reference Service Press Award are Denise Beaubian Bennett, Pamela S. Cenzer (both at the Marston Science Library), and Paul Kirk (at the Journalism Library, University of Florida at Gainesville). They were awarded the $2,500 prize for their co-authored article, "A Class Assignment Requiring Chat Based Reference," which was published in the Winter 2004 issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly (also known as RUSQ). Want to read this award-winning article online? Click here.

Bennett, Cenzer, and Kirk are the recipients of the 20th annual Reference Service Press Award, which was established in 1986 to recognize the most outstanding article published in the Reference and User Services Association's membership journal, RUSQ, during the preceding two volume years. Selection criteria include originality, timeliness, rigor of research, quality of writing, and relevance to RUSA's areas of interest and concern.

The winning article is based on a case study and describes the "differences between dealing with personal requests versus an assignment in a chat reference service environment and coalesces instruction and virtual reference that enhances staff training," according to Susan J. Beck, award committee chair.

Beck said that it was the view of the committee that the article was "well documented" and praised the fact that it "included an excellent literature review, with the background of the case study well described, readable and comprehensive." She reported it was chosen as the award winner because of "its timeliness and relevancy to the current issues facing reference librarianship today. It resonates with library practitioners and is useful for all types of libraries."

Reference Service Press is a library-oriented reference publishing company specializing in the preparation of financial aid resources in multiple formats. Its president, Gail Schlachter, is currently serving her third term on ALA Council; in the past, she has made outstanding professional contributions to the field of reference librarianship as the Reference Book Editor of RQ, (the predecessor of Reference and User Services Quarterly), Editor-in-Chief of Reference and User Services Quarterly, and President of the Reference and User Services Association.

Source: American Library Association press release, March, 2006.