MARAC Arline Custer Memorial Award Committee

The Arline Custer Memorial Award Committee was established by a vote of the membership in October 1976 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to honor the memory of Arline Custer, former MARAC member and editor of the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, who died in 1975.

Mission and Goals
The Committee awards prizes honoring books, exhibition catalogues, and articles by an individual, individuals, or an institution in the states comprising MARAC. The awards winners are announced annually at a MARAC meeting.

Operations
The Committee consists of six members who serve for a term of three years. Two are elected each year by the MARAC membership. The Junior Co-chair of the Custer Committee shall be the elected member receiving the most votes. The Junior Co-chair shall become the Senior Co-Chair following the next year's election. The MARAC Chair shall fill any vacancies on the Committee.

The Committee accepts submissions or nominations of books, exhibition catalogues, and articles for the Arline Custer Memorial Award. Multiple submissions are accepted. Publications submitted for the award must have appeared between July 1 and the June 30 deadline for submissions.

Entries are reviewed independently by the Committee members and the results are sent to the Committee Chair. The Committee usually conducts its work by mail or telephone although the Committee Chair may convene a meeting should it be necessary to reach agreement on the awards. The awards are decided by a majority vote of the Committee members. Committee members affiliated with an institution that submits entries for the awards should abstain from voting on the submission.

Entries are judged on scholarship, relevancy, innovativeness, quality of writing, and presentation and layout.

Submission guidelines for the Arline Custer Memorial Award

See a list of previous Arline Custer Memorial Award winners

C. Herbert Finch Online Publication Award
Members of the Arline Custer Memorial Award Committee shall be responsible for awarding the C. Herbert Finch Award honoring online publications including virtual exhibitions, web sites and web pages devoted to the promotion and use of archival materials.

last revised July 2010

Members