Tim Spindler, reference librarian and information technology coordinator at Rhode Island College, is the 2004 recipient of the Reference Service Press Award presented by the American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association.
The $2,500 award for his article "The Accessibility of Web Pages for Mid-Sized College and University Libraries" is donated by Reference Service Press. Want to read this award-winning article online? Click here.
Spindler is the recipient of the 18th annual Reference Service Press Award, which was established in 1986 to recognize the most outstanding article published in Reference and User Services Association's membership journal, RUSQ, during the preceding two volume years. Criteria include originality, timeliness, rigor of research, quality of writing, and relevance to RUSA's areas of interest and concern.
The winning article examines Web page accessiblity for persons with disabilities at 188 academic institutions with student body populations between 5,000 and 10,000. Spindler found that only 79 of these Web pages were fully accessible. According to Lynn K. Chmelir, chair of the award committee, "this is an important and timely topic that affects library users at all academic institutions." She goes on to say that the "article is clearly written and provides practical information on how to assess Web page accessibility and to improve performance." Reference Service Press is a library-oriented reference book publishing company specializing in the preparation of financial aid resources. Its president, Gail Schlachter, was recently elected to 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, 2004.
