GODORT is very pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 awards.
James Bennett Childs Award
Jim Church
Jim Church is the 2026 recipient of the James Bennett Childs Award. This award is a tribute to an individual who has made a lifetime and significant contribution to the field of government documents librarianship.
Jim Church is librarian for Economics, Political Economy, Global Studies, and International and California Government Information at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has worked since 2002. Prior to that he worked at the University of California, San Diego, as State, Local & United Nations Documents Librarian from 1998 to 2002; at Yale University from 1997 to1998 as Economics & Intergovernmental Information Librarian; and at Princeton University from 1991 to 1997 as a collections assistant for United Nations, European Union, and US documents. He has served as the chair of the IFLA Government Information and Official Publications Section and held multiple positions in ALA GODORT. He has authored publications on international government information and data and enjoys presenting on these topics at classes and conferences.
GODORT is honored to recognize Jim's decades of dedicated service in government documents librarianship, particularly the contributions to international documents. His years of documents librarianship at multiple libraries, articles in DttP and other publications, presentations at conferences, and extensive service to GODORT demonstrate commitment to improving the knowledge and use of government information. As one of his recommenders wrote, "Jim's leadership and scholarship have transformed the global landscape for international government documents and set the standard for what a librarian should be."
ProQuest/GODORT/ALA "Documents to the People" Award
Dr. Lynda Kellam and the Data Rescue Project
This award honors an individual, library, institution, or other non-commercial group that has most effectively encouraged the use of government documents in support of library service. The Awards and Conference Committee commends the work of the Data Rescue Project to protect threatened scientific data that was in danger of removal from public access.
The Data Rescue Project (DRP) is a grassroots volunteer community dedicated to access to public data for the public good that enables rapid response efforts for at-risk public data grounded in recognized data stewardship principles. The project partners with allied communities of data creators and their organizations to advocate for sustainable data access. The project has become a trusted resource for researchers, policymakers, and the public. As one of the recommenders wrote, the DRP's work "exemplifies the highest standards of professional excellence and public service. It stands as a model of collaboration, transparency, and dedication to the public good."
The Steering Committee for the DRP includes Lynda Kellam, Hallie Burns, Mikala Narlock, Lena Boham, Kathleen Buringham, Sebastian Majstorovic, Tess Grynoch, and DataDarner. It is a privilege to acknowledge these contributions and leadership in government information. The award comes with a monetary prize for the project, courtesy of ProQuest.
Margaret T. Lane/Virginia F. Saunders Memorial Research Award
Preserving Government Information: Past, Present, and Future, by James A. Jacobs and James R. Jacobs
This award honors an author or collaborative authors of an outstanding published research work in which government information forms a substantial part of the documented research. The Awards and Conference Committee has selected James A. Jacobs and James R. Jacobs, authors of Preserving Government Information: Past, Present, and Future, to receive the 2026 award. The committee commends the authors' carefully constructed exploration of the historical and current practices of the preservation of government information. As one of the recommenders wrote, "The volume presents an impressive breadth of well‐researched, clearly articulated information. It reflects the culmination of many years of dedicated study, analysis, and writing offering solutions in the preservation of government information."
James A. Jacobs ("Jim") is Librarian Emeritus, University of California San Diego, where he served as Data Services Librarian from 1985 to 2006. He co-taught the ICPSR workshop, "Providing Social Science Data Services: Strategies for Design and Operation" from 1990 to 2012. He served as a technical consultant to the Center for Research Libraries in their audits and certifications of the Trusted Digital Repositories of HathiTrust, Portico, and LOCKSS, among others. He is a co-founder of Free Government Information (freegovinfo.info).
James R. Jacobs is the US Government Information Librarian at Stanford University Libraries, where he supports the research needs of the university and works on both traditional collection development as well as digital projects such as LOCKSS-USDOCS and Web harvesting, including the End of Term Archive and FOIA. He received his MSLIS in 2002 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His passion and expertise lie in the realm of digital preservation, digital collection development, FOIA, and the expansion of the public domain and information commons. He is a co-founder of Free Government Information (freegovinfo.info) and Radical Reference (radicalreference.info).
It is a privilege to acknowledge this publication's contributions to government information. The award comes with a monetary prize for the publication, courtesy of Readex.
GODORT Preservation Grant
The Rhode Island State Library for the Retrospective Conversion of the RI Legislative Action Index Card Catalog
The 2026 Preservation Grant will fund the Retrospective Conversion of the Rhode Island Legislative Action Index Card Catalog, a project of the Rhode Island State Library. This grant will enable the State Library to determine a workflow that incorporates the use of AI tools and manual data entry to create a publicly accessible, electronic data set.
The RI State Library holds the full documentation of legislative action by the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1902-1989 in a physical card index. In total, the index is made up of 221 drawers and represents an estimated 110,500 pieces of legislation.
The project will hire a staff member, targeted to a currently enrolled MLIS student, to enable the State Library to establish a meaningful understanding of the ongoing work that will be required to effectively preserve and make this important informational resource accessible. Following the completion of the grant project, the RI State Librarian, Kate Wells, will offer a case study presentation for ALA GODORT. She will present an overview of the project, methodology used, and the final recommendations made regarding conversion as well as a beta version of the Historic Legislative Tracker tool.
Congratulations to all the award recipients!
------------------------------
Emily Rogers
Professor and Reference Librarian, Government Information
Valdosta State University Odum Library
Valdosta GA
ecrogers@valdosta.edu (229) 245-3748
------------------------------