Aber named 2005 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Award winner

Susan Ward Aber, a doctoral degree candidate in the School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University , has been awarded the 2005 ACRL Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for her proposal, "Information Needs and Behaviors of Geoscience Educations: A Grounded Theory Study."

Her research will investigate the information needs and behaviors of geoscientists to support teaching in an academic workplace. The fellowship is sponsored by Thomson Scientific, and fosters research in academic librarianship by encouraging and supporting dissertation research.

"Ms. Ward Aber's dissertation will explore important concepts about the information needs and behaviors of geosciences faculty to support their teaching," said Dolores Fidishun, chair of the selection committee. "It can also create a model that will have applications for future subject specific studies of this topic in other disciplines."

Ward Aber received her B.S. in Geology from the University of Kansas at Lawrence , Kan., 1977, and is a professional gemologist with a degree certificate from the Gemological Institute of America, Carlsbad , Calif., 1987. She has been the U.S. Depository Map library manager for William Allen White Library at Emporia State University since 1997 and a lecturer in the Earth Science Department since 1988.

The award of $1,500 and a plaque will be presented at the 2005 American Library Association ( ALA ) Annual Conference in Chicago during the ACRL President's Program on Monday, June 27, at 1:30 p.m. ACRL is a division of the American Library Association, representing 12,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.

Last Updated July 2, 2007>