The Library Research Round Table (LRRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the 2008 winners of the Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research and the Jesse H. Shera Award for the Support of Dissertation Research, which honors work that advances library research.

The Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research is given to the author(s) of a research article published in English during the calendar year and nominated by any member of LRRT or by editors of research journals in the field of library and information studies.

The 2009 recipient is Lynn Westbrook for her work on “Understanding Crisis Information Needs in Context: The Case on Intimate Partner Violence Survivor,” /Library Quarterly/ /78 /(3): 237-261. The study examines the role public libraries can play in providing the information needs of victims of intimate partner violence. Data was collected from two populations and two data-gathering methods and analyzed through the lens of everyday-life-information-seeking theory.

The Jesse H. Shera Award for the Support of Dissertation Research for 2009 was not awarded.

LRRT was founded in 1968 to contribute toward the extension and improvement of library research by providing public program opportunities for describing and evaluating library research projects and for disseminating their findings. LRRT is dedicated to informing and educating ALA members regarding research techniques and their usefulness in obtaining information. The information must help users reach administrative decisions and solve problems and expand the theoretical base of the field by serving as a forum for discussion and action on issues related to the literature and information needs for the field of library and information science.

For more information on the Library Research Round Table visit the Library Research Round Table website.