Eligibility for nomination is as follows:

• Nominees may be OLAC members, but membership in the organization is not a requirement.
• The nomination must be accompanied by a statement that provides supporting evidence of the nominee's qualifications.
• The nominations and statement(s) must be postmarked no later than November 15, and must be received by the Award Committee Chair no later than December 1.
• Nominees shall have made contributions to audiovisual cataloging by:
  • Furthering the goals of standardization of AV and/or computer file cataloging, including MARC coding and tagging;
  • Interpreting AV and/or computer file cataloging rules and developing policies on organization for these materials on the national and/or international levels;
  • Promoting the understanding of AV and/or computer file cataloging, coding and data exchange by professionals unfamiliar with these materials and processes.

The Nancy B. Olson award shall be administered by an Awards Committee, consisting of three OLAC members, no more that two of whom may be members of the OLAC Executive Board. The past OLAC President shall chair the Awards Committee. The OLAC President shall sign the letter of presentation and present the award to the recipient at the OLAC annual membership meeting.

List of Recipients:

• Nancy Olson, 1986 (OLAC Founder Award)
• Verna Urbanski, 1987
• Sheila Intner, 1988
• no award, 1989
• Richard Thaxter, 1990
• Catherine Leonardi, 1991
• Glenn Patton, 1992
• Ann Sandberg-Fox, 1993
• no award, 1994
• Laurel Jizba, 1995
• no award, 1996
• Sue Neumeister, 1997
• John Attig, 1998
• Sheila A. Smyth, 1999 (first recipient of the newly named Nancy B. Olson Award)
• no award, 2000
• no award, 2001
• no award, 2002
• Jean R. Weihs, 2003
• Ann Caldwell, 2004
• Jay Weitz, 2005
• no award, 2006
• Mary Lynette Larsgaard, 2007