Theodore Calvin Pease Award: Joshua D. Hager

Joshua D. Hager, who recently earned a master’s degree in information science from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science, is the 2014 recipient of the Theodore Calvin Pease Award. The award recognizes superior writing achievements by students of archival studies.

Dr. Helen R. Tibbo, alumni distinguished professor at the School of Information and Library Science, nominated Hager’s paper “To Like or Not to Like: Understanding and Maximizing the Utility of Archival Outreach on Facebook.” Hager, who is currently employed as the correspondence assistant at the State Archives of North Carolina, conducted a thorough study involving qualitative interviews with twenty-three respondents and carefully coded and analyzed the data to create a clear text that presents a view of how archivists are using social media to engage users. Tibbo noted that the paper “focuses on a topic that is highly relevant to archives today” and is an “innovative study that elucidates best practice.”

The paper will be published in The American Archivist Volume 78, Number 1 (Spring/Summer 2015). Established in 1987, the award is named for the first editor of The American Archivist.