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George Wittenborn Award:

Information & Application Procedures



Description

The 2009 George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) welcomes submissions of notable art books published in North America during 2009. This prestigious award is presented annually to publications demonstrating excellence in art publishing.

Established by ARLIS/NA in 1980, the award honors the memory of George Wittenborn (1905-1974), a premier New York art book dealer and publisher who was a strong supporter of ARLIS/NA in its formative years. Each year, eligible titles are evaluated for excellence in standards of content, documentation, layout, and format. From these titles, one exemplary publication will be chosen to receive the George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award.

Titles eligible for consideration include books, exhibition catalogues, and new periodical titles in any language, published in 2009 and originating from a North American publisher. Publications submitted by foreign publishers with North American offices must have been authored or edited in North America. Consult the Guidelines for specific criteria used for selection.

Announcement of the awards will take place in April 2010 and winning publishers, editors, and authors will be personally notified. Award winning titles and individuals associated with them can expect to receive wide recognition in newspapers and journals of the library and publishing professions via press release announcements by ARLIS/NA. The awards will be presented in April of 2010 during the convocation of the ARLIS/NA annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Selection Guidelines

  1. Content:
      Content:
    • Significance of the content to the literature of the field
    • Originality
    • Scholarly excellence
  2. Scholarly Apparatus:
    • Notes and bibliography
    • Indexes
    • Credits and acknowledgements
    • Lists of abbreviations
    • Layout
    • Concordances
  3. Format:
    • Paper quality: alkalinity (ph greater than 7), weight/opacity (print on the verso should not show on the recto)
    • Binding: visual design suitable to content; sewn signatures; board weight and thickness proportionate to size and weight of book; spine backed and rounded with adequate lining as well as strong and flexible joint covering which permits a flat opening
    • Illustration: suitable to work; clarity and color fidelity; adequately captioned and credited or otherwise acknowledged; avoidance of bleeding into the gutter or fore-edge; details clearly discernable; tipped-in illustrations repeated inside book and discussed in text
    • Typography: legible; suitable to content; compatibility of mixed typefaces; composition
    • Layout: logical juxtaposition of text to illustrations; generous outer margins without marginalia; minimum gutter margin of 5/6 inch on each page
    • Overall aesthetic quality


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Application

To be considered for the Wittenborn Award, send one copy of each title for review to:
Rebecca Price, Chair
2009 George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award Committee
Art, Architecture & Engineering Library
University of Michigan
2281 Bonisteel Blvd.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2094


Please enclose the completed Entry Form for submissions with your shipment.

The deadline for consideration is December 31, 2009. There is no limit to the number of submissions. Please note, we are unable to return items submitted for review.

Rebecca Price, Chair, 2009 Wittenborn Awards Committee
Work: (734)647-5274
Fax: (734)764-4487
Email: rpw@umich.edu

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