2024 RUSA Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award

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By Bill Ladewski March 28, 2024

Meg Smith, Physical Sciences Librarian and Head of Science Research Services at the New York University Division of Libraries, selected winner of the 2024 Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award

The RUSA Achievement Awards and Grants Committee selection committee was Chaired by Alan Kleiman.

Portrait, Isadore Gilbert Mudge, dated April 1897 and “circa 1932”, Historical Photograph Collection, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

During her career, which started in 1903 and concluded in 1941, Isadore Gilbert Mudge increased student independence in research and improved reference collections with several specific types of sources, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases, among others. A pioneer in reference librarianship, she coined the phrase “material, mind, and method” to describe her reference philosophy when she began teaching the class “Bibliography and Bibliographic Methods” as an associate professor at Columbia’s School of Library Services.

The award consists of $5,000 and a citation to an individual (or individuals) that has made a distinguished contribution to reference librarianship.