Home > The CILIP/FreePint Online Community Award

21st November 2003: See the press release announcing the winner.

Please note: The nomination process for this award is now closed, as of 27th June 2003.

Group communication and support online has become increasingly important in recent times, owing to uncertainty in international relations and the global economy. The Online Community Award therefore recognises the importance of initiatives that bring people with common interests together in a virtual environment. You are invited to nominate an online community project from any sector, including commercial, public or academia. The community’s audience may range from a diverse collection of users over the Web to a closed group communicating over an intranet.

A representative from the winning community, and the person nominating them, will be invited to the CILIP Awards Gala Ceremony at the Landmark Hotel, London on 21 November.

The Award is being run in association with FreePint. FreePint is a website and regular email newsletter with advice and tips on using the Internet, created for a worldwide community of information researchers.

Since its launch in November 1997, the number of worldwide users has grown to over 79,000. The website features a range of resources including an archive of newsletters, jobs listings, book reviews, events listings, the portal and the popular Bar, where users can post tricky research questions and get free help from other FreePinters.

The site is supported by a large number of freelancers who consult on the newsletter and business and technical development. Articles are regularly commissioned from information professionals globally, and the newsletter is free because it receives sponsorship from advertising. FreePint’s five years of community-building experience will be invaluable in evaluating award nominations.

Criteria

There are no restrictions on the type of online community that may be put forward for the award, or on who can nominate.

The size of the community is not as important as its relevance to the audience’s needs. Niche communities are often the most effective.

Judges will be looking for communication between community members which has been significantly enhanced by making use of Web-based technologies. For example, online communities should be more than simply email distribution lists (perhaps online archives, offline meetings, regular newsletter etc).

Judges will be looking for evidence of how the community improves the working lives of its members. Judges will contact the operator of nominated communities and ask them to provide evidence that the members find the community valuable, and that it is growing/has grown through word-of-mouth recommendation rather than purely through promotion.

How to nominate

The nomination process is now closed, as of 27th June 2003.