By Megan McClure

Have you or someone else in your state produced what you consider to be an outstanding document?

Don't hide its light under a legislative basket! Submit it to NCSL's 2016 Notable Documents Awards competition.

Each year the Legislative Research Librarians (LRL) staff section sponsors the competition for outstanding state and legislative documents. Deadline for submissions is Friday, June 10.

Any state or legislative document published in the last two years is eligible. Submissions are generally made through each state’s legislative librarian but any legislative staff may submit documents.

The Notable Documents Awards:

• Formally recognize excellence in state or legislative documents that explore topics of contemporary or historic interest to legislators and staff.
• Showcase innovative formats and presentations of substantive material.
• Advertise the extensive range of information available to legislators and staff.
• Promote the exchange of information with other states.

Elizabeth Lincoln, director of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, is the chair of this year’s Notable Documents Committee.

Using a scorecard, committee members evaluate each document on specific criteria, including relevance, organization, and clarity, effective use of graphics, innovation, balance, and expansion of the base of knowledge on a particular subject.

Winners are selected from the highest rated documents. Certificates and bragging rights are awarded to authors of the winning documents during the NCSL Legislative Summit.

Visit the Notable Documents Awards page for more details on criteria, submission forms and a list of past winning documents. For more information about the LRL Notable Documents Awards, please contact Megan McClure, NCSL staff liaison to LRL.

Megan McClure is the NCSL staff liaison to the Legislative Research Librarians.

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