The Dorothy Prescott Prize

The Dorothy Prescott Prize is awarded to the author of the best paper presented at each ANZMapS Conference, as judged by a panel appointed by the ANZMapS President. The prize has been awarded annually since 2010. It consists of $500 and a certificate awarded to the author, with the certificate presented following each conference. The prize money is paid once the winning paper has been submitted to The Globe editorial committee, revised as required by the editor, and formally accepted for publication.

The Dorothy Prescott Prize supersedes the Estelle Canning Memorial Prize, endowed by Victor and Dorothy Prescott in memory of Estelle Canning, Vice-President of the Australian Map Circle in 1997–98, who passed away on 20 September 1999. The final Estelle Canning Memorial Prize was awarded in 2009.

About Dorothy Prescott
Dorothy Prescott’s career has been dedicated to map curation and librarianship. She holds an Honours degree in Geography and qualifications in Librarianship. Her career began in Nigeria, where she established the map collection for the University of Ibadan Library. After migrating to Australia, she developed the map collection for the University of Melbourne Library. Her final institutional role was as Map Curator at the National Library of Australia from 1979 to 1983. In 1984, she established a consultancy business advising libraries and other organisations holding map collections. In 1987, she became an Approved Valuer of cartographic materials for the Australian Government’s Taxation Incentives Scheme.

In 1980, Dorothy became a member of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Committee for Cartographic Materials, contributing to two editions of Cartographic Materials: A Manual of Interpretation for AACR2. That same year, she became an Associate Member—and later a Member—of the Australian Institute of Cartographers, which later became the Mapping Sciences Institute of Australia. From 1982 until her retirement in 2003, she represented Australia on the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on the History of Cartography. Her final contribution to the Commission was the Bibliography on the History of Australia’s National Topographic Mapping Agencies (2003).

Dorothy has published extensively on maps and map librarianship and has taught the subject to both cartography and librarianship students. In 1996, she co-authored Guide to Maps of Australia in Books Published 1780 to 1830: An Annotated Cartobibliography with Dr Thomas Perry. She has actively contributed to both the cartography and surveying professions through board and committee service since the mid-1970s. Her contributions to surveying have been recognised with several awards, including ‘Eminent Spatial Scientist of the Year 2003’. In the same year, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to map librarianship and cartobibliography.

Since retiring, her principal focus has been on map history and cartobibliographic research, with a particular interest in John Arrowsmith’s mapping of Australia

Publications

2005. “Australian Plates in John Arrowsmith’s London Atlas of Universal Geography.” Paper
presented at the International Cartographic Conference, A Coruña, Spain, 11–16 July.

Journal Articles

2012. “Arrowsmith’s Australian Maps.” Map Matters, no. 19 (November).
2013. “Australia as Depicted by John Arrowsmith in His London Atlas.” Journal of the
International Map Collectors Society, no. 133 (Summer): 17–22.
2014. “The John Arrowsmith Australian Maps Project.” University of Melbourne Collections, no.
12 (June): 34–44.

Past winners, Dorothy Prescott Prize:

Past winners, Estelle Canning Memorial Prize: