Snyder Book Collecting Contest

Snyder Book Collecting Contest Rules and Details

Deadlines and Dates

Bibliographies and essays should be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 29th, 2013. Email attachments should be addressed to Kristin Zachrel at kaz@ku.edu. Microsoft Word documents are preferred. The entry packets will be used for preliminary judging to determine finalists.

Final judging will occur on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013.

Prizes

Awards will be offered in both Graduate and Undergraduate divisions.

• First Prize: $600
• Second Prize: $400
• Honorable Mention: $100

Each winner will receive a gift card from contest co-sponsor Jayhawk Ink, a division of KU Bookstore.

Collection Criteria

• Collections should consist of a group of materials that share a particular subject, topic, or theme. The entrant must express the collection's thematic coherence in their essay and annotated bibliography.
• Print and non-print materials owned by the contestant will be accepted. Items must be in the form of a physical object that can be displayed. Some examples of the types of acceptable formats include books, graphic novels, music (records, CD's, 8 tracks), film (DVD's, VHS), etc.
• Entries are normally limited to a selection of 25 to 50 items, regardless of the size of the contestant's total collection.
• Collections do not need to be rare or expensive to win.

Rules

1. The contest is open to currently enrolled KU students. A previous winner may enter again only if a different collection is submitted. A previous non-winning entry may be resubmitted, although the collection will be expected to show growth. The contest is not open to individuals who have won a prize twice or more in any given division.
2. Each contestant is limited to a single submission. Materials must be owned and collected by the contestant alone. If selected as a finalist, the contestant will be expected to produce all items listed in the bibliography (see Rule 3 below).
3. Each contestant will submit an annotated bibliography of the submitted collection and a brief (two-to-six page) essay.
   
   • The essay should state the collector's purpose and method in building the collection and ideas for the collection's future development. The essay's goal is to communicate how the entered items form a coherent collection. Entrants may find helpful suggestions for developing their essays, including essay examples from past winners' entries, on the Other Resources link on the Snyder website. The essay must be the collector's original work.
   • At least ten entries in the bibliography must be annotated. An annotation is a description of the work and its special interest to the collection and/or collector. See links and examples on the Other Resources link on the Snyder website for help with writing an annotated bibliography. You may use the Ask A Librarian service on the KU Libraries site or e-mail kaz@ku.edu for more information on citation and annotation formats.
   • The physical collection must match the bibliography. All entries in the bibliography should be present in the physical collection and no additional items should be added that are not listed in the bibliography.
   • No handwritten essays or bibliographies will be accepted. Each contestant must submit an electronic copy via email attachment. Submit the essay, annotated bibliography, and cover page in one document.
   • Please do not put any form of your name or personal identification in the header/footer, title, or body of the annotated bibliography or essay. Rather, on a separate cover sheet, include the title of your collection, your name, local address, telephone number, e-mail address, division (grad or undergrad), KU student ID#, hometown, and major.
4. Final judging will occur on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013.
   • Each finalist is expected to deliver and set up the display of their own collection in Watson Library for final judging during designated times. Adequate book display risers and stands will be provided.
   • Visual props, accessories, and any other items that are not included in the submitted bibliography are not allowed and will not be used as criteria for the final judging of the collection.
   • Finalists will be required to sign a release form allowing KU Libraries to retain a copy of winning essays and bibliographies in the University Archives and to post these documents on the KU Libraries website.
   • The awards reception will take place at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013, followed by the awards ceremony at 6:00 PM and a keynote address on a topic of interest to all collectors from 6:30-7:30 PM. All finalists are strongly encouraged to be present for the entire event.
   • First and second place collections will be displayed at Watson Library for two weeks immediately after the event.

Prospective contestants are welcome to discuss their collections before the closing date by contacting Kristin Zachrel at kaz@ku.edu