With the Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Scholarship, UK Libraries awards two $1,000 prizes to undergraduates whose research projects make substantive and creative use of UK Libraries’ collections, services, and resources. We celebrate exceptional and original scholarship in two categories: traditional papers and digital methodologies.
View a list of recipients or past winning submissions to see where UK Libraries resources can take your scholarship, and learn more about recent winners below.
Claire-Marie Hall, a senior nursing major, was recognized for her traditional paper, “The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Suicide Ideation.” Hall used UK Libraries’ citation guides, academic search engines and databases, and recommendations from an information literacy session with librarian Stephanie Henderson to examine existing literature on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and suicide. Findings from Hall’s research paper have led to increased suicide awareness training in Kentucky registered nurses’ license renewal process.
A senior majoring in digital media and design, Isabelle Pethtel was recognized for her media project, “King of the Coop,” which utilized letterpress printing and bookbinding resources from the King Library Press (KLP). Pethtel printed “King of the Coop,” an original short story with illustrations, using the KLP’s Chandler & Price press and bound the book by hand. She credits KLP director Paul Holbrook and volunteer Frank Jones for guiding her through the process and for having a profound impact on her final project.