Research services librarian Lisa Johnston has been named the first recipient of the annual Academic Innovators Award, given by the Academic and Research Libraries Division (ARLD) of the Minnesota Library Association.

The award recognizes outstanding recent contributions to advance the mission of an academic library in Minnesota through an innovative project, program, or service. Johnston will accept her award, which includes a $300 prize, at the 2011 ARLD Day conference, held April 29 in Chanhassen.

The ARLD chose Johnston from a field of strong candidates. Her project, a campus-wide data management program that grew out of her work with the Minnesota Geological Survey and the Universal Digital Conservancy, has become a model for other universities around the country. The workshops and consulting services developed by Johnston and her colleagues help researchers from a wide range of disciplines meet the National Science Foundation's recent requirement that all grant proposals include a data-management plan.