For outstanding contribution to the literature of physics, astronomy, or mathematics or to honor work that improves the exchange of information in one or more of these areas.
Award Guidelines and Eligibility
The award should be given for a significant contribution to the literature of physics, mathematics or astronomy or to honor work that demonstrably improves the exchange of information in physics, mathematics or astronomy. The contribution should also significantly benefit libraries or enhance the ability of librarians to provide service. It should be special-- above and beyond the normal job requirements of the individual(s) or group concerned.
The individual(s) or group so honored need not be, but may be, a SLA/PAM member.
The PAM Division Awards Committee reserves the right to withhold the award if a sufficient number of appropriate candidates are not nominated.
Nominations for the PAM Division Award
To make a nomination for the PAM Division Award, please send an email to the Chair of the Awards Committee, including the nominee's name and a brief justification of why you believe this person (or group in the case of the Division Award) is deserving of this recognition. Any documentation to support your case is appreciated. The Committee will send confirmation of receiving your nomination and may follow up if more information on the nominee is need to help the committee make a decision.
PAM Division Award Recipients
34th, 2023
"Science Librarianship and Social Justice" series: Written by Jeffra Bussmann, Isabel Altamirano, Samuel Hansen, Nastasha Johnson, and Gr Keer and "published in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship (ISTL) from 2020 to 2022, these four columns center justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in their discussion of science librarianship practice, while scaffolding the discussion and contextualization of social justice concepts in science and librarianship from foundational to capstone levels." [more]
33rd, 2022
IOP Publishing
32nd, 2021
Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (UAT): "...an open, interoperable and community-supported thesaurus which unifies the existing divergent and isolated Astronomy & Astrophysics thesauri into a single high-quality, freely-available open thesaurus formalizing astronomical concepts and their inter-relationships." [more]
31st, 2020
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO): In addition to providing state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community, the NRAO houses the PAM Division archives and hosts and maintains the PAMnet listserv.
30th, 2019
NUMDAM – Numérisation de Documents Anciens Mathématiques, the French digital mathematics library.
29th, 2018
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS): "The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers in astronomy and physics, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) under a NASA grant. The ADS maintains three bibliographic databases containing more than 13 million records covering publications in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics, and the arXiv e-prints."
28th, 2017
arXiv: "Started in August 1991, arXiv.org is a highly-automated electronic archive and distribution server for research articles. Covered areas include physics, mathematics, computer science, nonlinear sciences, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics."
27th, 2016
MathJax: MathJax is a platform that renders mathematics easily and beautifully on the web, but one of their goals from the beginning has also been to make math more accessible to assistive technologies.
26th, 2015
University of British Columbia (UBC) Library and the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS): For their efforts to archive, preserve, and make available BIRS lecture series videos - presentations of primary research data in the disciplines of mathematics, statistics and theoretical computer science - in the UBC Library digital repository.
25th, 2014
Library and Information Services in Astronomy (LISA) Conference series: For fostering close cooperation between astronomers and librarians and for providing an excellent venue for librarians, astronomers, and software/data specialists to network and explore trends.
24th, 2013
Dr. Robion Kirby: Dr. Rob Kirby is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the board of directors at Mathematical Sciences Publishers (MSP). MSP produce and distribute scientific and research literature at the lowest sustainable prices covering mathematics and other related fields. Dr. Kirby’s significant contributions with MSP benefits libraries and enhances the ability of librarians to provide service, and improves the exchange of information.
2012 No award
23rd, 2011
Project Euclid: For the transformative nature of their work expanding and redefining the role of libraries in publishing.
22nd, 2010
Donna Coletti: For her leadership in preserving and disseminating Harvard's collection of Observatory Publications, via NEH-funded microfilming projects followed by scanning and linking from the Astrophysics Data System (ADS).
21st, 2009
Helmut A. Abt: For his achievements as Editor of the Astrophysical Journal from 1971 through 1999, and for his work as an early explorer in the field of bibliometrics and the sociological details of scientific authorship, which Eugene Garfield calls "astrosociology". Details.
2008 No award.
2007 No award.
2006 No award.
20th, 2005
Electronic Research Archive for Mathematics - ERAM, (also known as the Jahrbuch Project). Bernd Wegner & Keith Dennis, co-editors. For the creation of a unique and freely accessible database and archive of mathematics literature with over 15,638 links to full-text images of articles and books in various digital archives, and including the Jahrbuch uber die Fortschritte der Mathematik, one of the first reviewing publications for mathematics published from 1869 until 1943.
19th, 2004
American Physical Society: For its long-standing awareness of the importance of the historical literature in its discipline, and its commitment to archiving that literature in scanned, reference-linked and searchable backfiles made available to its researchers and subscribers at reasonable cost. We also recognize its trailblazing role in the secure archiving of electronic versions of its publications. Finally, we acknowledge its careful and generous policy on copyright and its continuing support of arXiv in enhancing the dissemination of scholarly information to all.
18th, 2003
Evan Owens: For his work, while with the University of Chicago Press, making the journals of the American Astronomical Society available as full-text electronic journals at a time when the e-journal idea was merely a glimmer of an idea at other societies and commercial publishers.
17th, 2002
John Gardner: For technologies he has developed to promote accessibility of electronic information by people with print disabilities, including low vision, blindness, and dyslexia, in the Science Access Project at Oregon State University.
16th, 2001
Guenther Eichhorn: For his groundbreaking work in the genesis and development of the Astrophysical Data System, that represents an unparalleled shift in the free distribution of astronomical information.
15th, 2000
Maurice Bruynooghe: On behalf of his entire Editorial Board and the Association for Logic Programming, for recognizing the difficulty of increasing journal costs for both libraries and scholars, and for taking steps within their own scholarly community to effect positive change.
14th, 1999
Peter Boyce: For his work at AAS which led, among other things, to an "extraordinary cooperation between the AAS and astronomy librarians" and to the development of the electronic Astrophysical Journal which has become a model for electronic publishing.
13th, 1998
Paul Ginsparg: As the original creator of the Los Alamos National Laboratories electronic preprint server which introduced several novel and innovative approaches to scholarly publishing.
1997 No award.
1996 No award.
12th, 1995
Daniel Egret: On behalf of SIMBAD (Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) which has revolutionized astronomical research.
11th, 1994 [joint]
Nancy Anderson: In honor of her work as co-Chair of the American Mathematical Society's Library Committee and in recognition of her landmark bibliography of French mathematical seminars.
11th, 1994 [joint]
James Rovnyak: In honor of his role in the initiation of the American Mathematical Society's Library Committee and his leadership of the Committee as it surveyed North American mathematics libraries and addressed various issues in mathematics information.
10th, 1993
Henry H. Barschall: In recognition of his contribution to the physics literature via a groundbreaking journal cost study, and in appreciation of his defense of the right to publish and exchange such information, which has benefitted the scholarly and library communities at large.
9th, 1992
Joanne Goode: For her work on PAMNET.
8th, 1991
Brenda Corbin: For her work on the International Astronomical Union conference, Library and Information Services in Astronomy (LISA).
1990 No award.
7th, 1989
Mathematical Society of Japan: For producing Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mathematics (Prof. Masatake Kuranishi, Columbia University, accepted the award).
1988 No award.
1987 No award.
6th, 1986
Judith Bausch: For her editorship of the Union list of astronomy serials.
1985 No award.
1984 No award.
5th, 1983
Edwin Parker and Louise Addis: For his writing the original SPIRES programs and her managing the high energy physics preprint database for SLAC.
1982 No award.
1981 No award.
4th, 1980
Walter Fricke, Director of the Astronomisches Recheninstitut: For his editorship of Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts.
3rd, 1979
Robert Kelly, Director of the Particle Data Group: For the Particle Data Group's publication of Review of particle properties.
2nd, 1978
William LeVeque, Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society: For his contributions to the bibliography of mathematics, especially his editorship of Reviews in number theory.
1st, 1977
D.A. Kempe: For publication of Astronomy and astrophysics: a bibliographical guide.