The Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits was established in
1985, through the generosity of Bern Dibner, to recognize excellence in
museums and museum exhibits that interpret the history of technology,
industry, and engineering to the general public. Winning exhibits, in
addition to being well designed and produced, should raise pertinent
historical issues. Artifacts and images should be used in a manner that
interests, teaches, and stimulates both the general public and
historians. The award consists of a plaque and up to $1,000 to cover
expenses for a member of the design team to accept the award at the SHOT
awards banquet.
Exhibits are eligible for this award if they have been open to the
public for no more than 24 months before the deadline for nominations.
The Society especially encourages nominations from local and regional
historical societies. Virtual exhibits are not eligible for the award .
Anyone, including the institution or individual responsible for its
creation, may nominate an exhibit for the Dibner Award, using the
nomination form available here as a PDF or Word document. The completed
nomination form should be e-mailed to each member of the Dibner
Committee. Deadline for nominations for the 2015 prize is 1 May 2015
(for the 2016 prize, the deadline will be 15 December 2015), except in
the case of traveling and short-term exhibits that close before that
date; in those cases, nominators must submit their documents to the
committee at least two months in advance of the exhibit's closing date.
Nomination documents may not under any circumstances exceed 1 MB or
contain anything other than text and static images.
After reviewing nominations, the committee will choose a short list of
finalists, giving sole consideration to the evaluation documents
submitted. The committee will then arrange for a "live" reviewer to
visit each of the short-listed exhibits and write a report. Normally the
chair will draw upon recommendations for live reviewers made by the
nominator in the nomination document, although s/he may use her/his
judgment to assign alternative reviewers as needed, including members of
the committee.
For more information, please contact the committee chair or David
Lucsko, SHOT Secretary, [log in to unmask]
http://www.historyoftechnology.org/about_us/awards/dibner.html
|