“When you engage in research, you build valuable critical skills that serve you in other areas of your daily life. You learn to ask probing and thoughtful questions, gather, and interpret data, read critically, form intelligent opinions, and manage and understand conflicting information.” –University of Maryland Global Campus
As you read this, you might be working on a research paper for one or more of your classes. You might be a little stressed about it as well and wondering why you must do it.
The value of research papers is something most of us don’t appreciate at the time we’re working on it, but later in our work and personal lives we get it. To succeed in today’s complex work world, one needs to be skilled in analyzing problems, solving them, and then effectively communicating those solutions. The work you put into a research project right now will likely pay dividends down the line.
If you’d like a little more incentive, the Madison College Libraries will once again present one student with an award for a research paper or project they did during the fall semester. The winner will receive an award plaque and $250 at the Student Success Awards Ceremony next April.
Last year, Benjamin Brehm was the first winner of the award for his paper, Aquifers half full: confronting the groundwater depletion issue in the United States.
To be eligible for the award, students must be registered in a credit class during the fall 2024 semester. The research project must have been created during the same semester. Only one research paper or project may be entered per student, but it can come from any Madison College credit class.
Entries must be submitted as an email attachment by Dec. 20, 2024, to [email protected]. The body of the entry email must include the name of the class and instructor and a brief paragraph reflecting on how your library research experience was. Submission attachments can come in the form of a Word document, PowerPoint, or some other format approved by the student’s instructor.
The research entry must include at least eight research sources, of which at least five must come from the library’s catalog or subscription databases. A Works Cited or References page of all sources must be included at the end of the paper. The entries will be judged by a panel of library staff and select Madison College instructors using a rubric grading the reflective paragraph, the body of the research project, and the sources used.
For more information about the Library Research Award, please visit https://libguides.madisoncollege.edu/researchaward. For help on your library research, stop in any of the campus libraries or book a librarian online at https://libreservations.madisoncollege.edu/reserve/librarian.
We hope you consider entering your research paper or project!