THE Awards 2021

Just three weeks left to enter the THE Awards!

Back in March we announced that we were sponsoring the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Library team, as before Google, Bing and Yahoo, there were librarians – the search engine with a heart. 

Even though the popularity of online search engines has grown enormously, the role of a librarian is just as, or even more important than ever. 

Librarians and their teams across the academic sector continue to work tirelessly to ensure that students and lecturers have access to all of the resources needed for the continuity of both teaching and studying. 

It goes without saying that the pressure across the academic sector increased during the pandemic, with Donna Chambers, lecturer of Tourism at Sunderland University likening it to a ‘baptism of fire’, making the criteria tighter and the awards tougher than ever. 

That said, we want to make sure that you all have the resources necessary to apply for an award that you deserve. With just three weeks to go until nominations close, the pressure is ON! 

Entry criteria 

It’s very important to know what to include and exclude before spending time on your application.  

Your entry should contain ‘sufficient robust information’ and any key activities that took place in the academic year of 19/20.  

Librarians would have read many good stories in their time, and that’s what the judges are looking for. They’re looking for a well told story of at least 500 words that can be backed up with solid metrics.  

If you’d like to submit tables and graphs, they can be uploaded as supporting materials, yet it’s worth noting, you cannot exceed more than four sides of A4 as the judges may print entries out. 

Your entry should be at least 500 words of text, and you may also upload supporting documents, however, this should also be no more than four sides of A4 in total. 

Helpful hints for your application 

If your entry is based on a particular initiative or initiatives, explain how your team contributed to the outcomes. 

Judges look for evidence of collaboration with other administrative and academic departments that enhanced your teams delivery, and for examples of the effective use of leading-edge practices from other sectors. 

Other elements you could include are: 

  • Explain how your team has personalised the delivery and support of library space, services, and content provision
  • Describe how the team developed the library’s digital environment to benefit users
  • Detail how your team exploited physical and virtual space to provide a complimentary, blended service
  • Describe how your team’s work improves on standard practice in the sector and addresses new and emerging challenges and opportunities.

Logistical tips to remember

  • Remember, your entry needs to be at least 500 words of text
  • As well as populating the ‘Institution’ field on the application form, please ensure that, if applicable, you also enter the team/department name, project name or individual’s name in the ‘Nominee’ field
  • When logged in, entries can be drafted and redrafted as many times as you wish – just click ‘SAVE’ any time you would like to exit an incomplete submission… You do not want to lose all of your hard work! 
  • If an entry is currently ‘SAVED’ (this will appear under ‘TRANSACTIONS’ in the upper left). You will need to click on the ‘Move to basket’ button before an entry can be submitted

Since being introduced in 2019, the Times Higher Education award for Outstanding Library team has been won by the University of Kent and University of Edinburgh… Could your institution be the third recipient of this award?

You’ll never know if you don’t apply! 

Ready to apply? Click here

If you would like help with your application, please do get in touch and we will do our best to help!  

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