Call for papers collection development

I am the CONUL representative on the editorial board of SCONUL Focus.

Issue (70) will focus on collections with possible topics to include – conservation, collaborative purchasing, accessibility of collections, relationship with suppliers, affordable e-content, move from print, formats for e-materials, collaboration with academics on reading lists, mandates, new staff roles, open access and APCs, journal prices and Brexit, dealing with donations.

If you are interested in submitting an article please e-mail me by 17th March. Please consult previous issues of the journal to get an insight into style, length etc.

Date for completed articles to me – Friday 27^th May.

Helen Fallon
Deputy University Librarian
Maynooth University

Call for reviewers - Reference Reviews

The call for reviewers is now open for the Emerald Group publication, Reference Reviews. 

Reviewers are sought across all subject areas and for all types of reference related material, especially gratis websites and subscription electronic resources. Previous reviewing experience is not a pre-requisite, but those who have not published reviews may be asked to write a trial review which will be used in the journal if of the required standard. 

Reviewers are not remunerated but receive complimentary access to Emerald journals on publication of a review, can retain most print items reviewed, may receive extended access to subscription electronic sources form publishers/vendors and have the benefit of publication in a recognized international journal used in libraries in North America, the UK and worldwide.   
If you are interested please send your CV to Vibiana Cvetkovic, North American Editor.

Professional and Scholarly Writing: Advice for information professionals and academics

I'm really impressed by this thought provoking and informative article which is available on open access from the Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice

Irish Bibles in the Russell Library Maynooth

Congratulations to Barbara McCormack on her chapter Using the Irish Language to Further the Aims of Bible Societies: An Analysis of Irish bibles in the Russell Library Maynooth in the recently published Palgrave Macmillan book Representing Irish Religious Histories: Historiography, Ideology and Practice edited by Jacqueline Hill and Mary Ann Lyons. It’s great to see librarians working with academic colleagues on major works such as this.

Call for papers - Radical Libraries, Archives and Museums

The call for papers is now open for the Allied Media Conference which will take place in Detroit in June 2017. The theme of this year's conference is "Radical Libraries, Archives and
Museums".
The proposal deadline is 12th March 2017.
Further information.

Call for abstracts - education and new learning technologies

The call for papers is now open for EDULEARN 2017, the 9th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies which will be held on 3rd-5th July 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.

The scope of the conference covers a wide range of topics in education and technology in education, further details of which can be found here.

Abstracts can be submitted for presentations, posters, and virtual presentations. Abstracts should be submitted here with abstract guidelines available here.

Timeline:
Abstract submission deadline: 30th March 2017
Notification of acceptance: 24th April 2017
Final paper submission deadline: 18th May 2017

Writing a peer-reviewed article for the first time and in a second language - how to succeed with both

Guest post by Sassa Persson and Maria Svenningsson

In this blog post we’d like to share some useful insights that have helped us with our writing process for our article Librarians as Advocates of Social Media for Researchers: A Social Media Project Initiated byLinköping University Library, Sweden which was published in New Review of Academic Librarianship.

Being new to the game we started by reading articles about academic writing. We were inspired by the article “Write right the First Time”, written by Robert Brown. He describes the research process in a strategic manner listing eight questions to consider when planning and writing an article:

1. Who are the intended readers?
2. What did you do?
3. Why did you do it?
4. What happened?
5. What do the results mean in theory?
6. What do the results mean in practice?
7. What is the key benefit for your readers?
8. What remains unresolved?  

Using Brown’s eight questions helped us to focus and narrow things down to make our research material and work easier to handle. We learned that the research process is seldom a linear process. New ideas pop up every now and then questioning the initial approach. We found ourselves going back to some of the questions many times during the writing process. We also recommend talking to experienced colleagues about your ideas. They can help you think strategically if the writing process becomes challenging or if you just need a confidence boost!

Writing an article takes a lot of time and effort. You’ll probably need to revise your text several times. Avoiding distractions is of course a good idea but don't forget to take a time-out every now and then to re-boost your energy supplies. After the time-out you’ll probably see your text with new eyes.

We don’t need to tell you that writing in a second language is not easy if you're not used to it. Important advice we received from a colleague was to plan and think in English from the beginning. This helped us to not have to translate our ideas and thoughts from Swedish to English. Colleagues are also useful when it comes to proofreading. Do not hesitate to ask people at work to read and comment on your text. Do it several times during the entire writing process. Sure it can be intimidating, but you will benefit from it. Last but not least, read the instructions for authors which are found at the publisher's website. Here you find useful information and guidelines such as which citation style to use and the word limit for the abstract.

Be sure to use social media to disseminate your research. It will help you to reach a wider audience. Ready to write an article? Do not hesitate, just go for it!

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to guest editor Helen Fallon and editor Graham Walton at the journal New Reviewof Academic Librarianship for all their help.

Librarians as Advocates of Social Media forResearchers: A Social Media Project Initiated by Linköping University Library,Sweden 

Call for papers - Western Balkan Information Literacy Conference

The call for papers is now open for the Western Balkan Information Literacy Conference 2017. The title of the conference is Generation Z: Fake News and Information Literacy, the New Horizon and it will take place 6th - 9th June 2017 in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Important Dates:
Abstracts submission deadline 24th April 2017
Notification of Abstract acceptance 30th April 2017
Full Paper submission deadline 15th May 2017
Notification of acceptance 30th May 2017
Dissemination of final programme 2nd June 2017

Main themes and topics:

A. Information literacy in the modern world

• Fake News and Information Literacy
• Action Literacy
• Information literacies (media literacy, digital literacy, visual literacy, financial literacy, health literacy, cyber wellness, infographics, information behaviour, trans-literacy, post-literacy)
• Information Literacy and academic libraries
• Information Literacy and adult education
• Information Literacy and blended learning
• Information Literacy and distance learning
• Information Literacy and mobile devices (M-learning)
• Information Literacy and Gamification
• Information literacy and public libraries
• Information Literacy in Primary and Secondary Schools
• Information literacy and the Knowledge Economy
• Information literacy and the Information Society
• Information Literacy and the Multimedia Society
• Information Literacy and the Digital Society
• Information Literacy in the modern world (e.g trends, emerging technologies and innovation; growth of digital resources; digital reference tools; reference services).
• The future of information literacy
• Workplace information literacy

B. Librarians as support to the lifelong learning process

• Digital pedagogy and Information Literacy
• Integrating information literacy into the curriculum
• Putting information literacy theory into practice
• Information Literacy training and instruction
• Instructional design and performance for information literacy (e.g. teaching practice, session design, lesson plans)
• Information Literacy and online learning (e.g. self-paced IL modules)
• Information Literacy and Virtual Learning Environments
• Supporting users need through library 2.0 and beyond
• Digital empowerment and reference work
• Information Literacy across the disciplines
• Information literacy and digital preservation
• Innovative IL approaches
• Student engagement with Information Literacy

C. Media and information literacy – theoretical approaches (standards, assessment, collaboration, etc.)

• Information literacy theory (models, standards, indicators.)
• Information literacy and Artificial intelligence
• Information Literacy and information behaviour
• Information literacy and reference services: cyber reference services, virtual reference services, mobile reference services, expert crowd sourcing, global reference volunteers
• Information literacy cultural and contextual approaches
• Information Literacy and Threshold concepts
• Information literacy evaluation and assessment
• Information literacy in different cultures and countries including national studies
• Information literacy project management
• Measuring in information literacy instruction assessment

D. New aspects of education/strategic planning, policy, and advocacy for information literacy
in a digital age

• Branding, promotion and marketing for information literacy
• Cross –sectorial; and interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships for information literacy
• Information literacy policies and development
• Leadership and Governance for information literacy
• Strategic planning for IL
• Strategies in e-learning to promote self-directed and sustainable learning in the area of information literacy skills.

Paper submission:

Submissions in any of the following forms are accepted:

• Full paper to be published in conference proceedings
• Presentation
• Roundtable discussion
• Poster session
• Train-the-trainers workshop
• PechaKucha

Abstracts & papers (prepared using the WBILC template) are to be sent to wbilc2017@gmail.com

Call for papers - Advances in Library Administration and Organization

The call for papers is now open for Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Challenging the "Jack of All Trades but Master of None" Librarian Syndrome. The volume is due to be published by Emerald Publishing in 2018. The series editor is Samantha Hines and the volume editor is George J. Fowler. 

This volume will explore the current purpose of librarianship and libraries, how we become “Masters of our Domains”, develop expertise in various elements of the profession, and how we extend outward into our communities.

Proposals in the following areas would be of particular interest:

• What is the purpose of a library in a community? And what roles in the community best align with that purpose?

• How ought we gather and implement expertise from outside the profession?

• How can we communicate and garner support from the government, the private sector and users in order to achieve our purpose?

• How can libraries balance demands to serve other needs that detract from the library’s ability to fulfill its purpose?

• How can libraries build community around this purpose, and how ought they reach out to their communities to engage and serve them?

• How can libraries demonstrate positive impact on young generations?

• What opportunities are opened to libraries and librarians by recent and potential future technological advancements?

Submissions should consist of an abstract (300 words), author details, and an estimated final submission length and should be sent to shines@pencol.edu by 31st March 2017.

Submission timeline:

• Submission deadline for proposals: 31st March 2017

• Notification of acceptance sent by: 30th June 2017

• Submission deadline for full chapters: 31st August 2017

• Comments returned to authors: 31st October 2017

• Submission deadline for chapter revisions: 30th November 2017

Call for essays - Women in Library Information Technology

The call for essays is now open for We Can Do I.T.: Women in Library Information Technology, a book edited by Jenny Brandon, Sharon Ladenson, and Kelly Sattler to be published by Library Juice Press.

Description of book:
What roles are women playing in information technology (I.T.) in libraries? What are rewards that women experience, as well as challenges they face in library I.T.? What are future visions for women in library I.T.?
This edited collection will provide a voice for people to share insights into the culture, challenges, and rewards of being a woman working in library I.T.  We are soliciting personal narratives from anyone who works in a library about what it is like to be a woman, or working with women, in library I.T. We also seek essays on visions for the future of women within library I.T. and how such visions could be achieved. This collection should be useful not only for those pursuing a career in library I.T., but also for library managers seeking to facilitate a more inclusive environment for the future. Through publishing a collection of personal narratives, we also seek to bring experiences of women in library I.T. from the margins to the center.For the purposes of this collection, we consider library I.T. to include responsibilities in computer networks, hardware, and software support; computer programming (e.g. coding in python, php, java...); web development (e.g. admins, coders, front/back end developers,...); and/or the management of such areas.

Possible topics include but are not limited to the following:

• How you started in library I.T.
• Stories related to being a woman in library I.T.
• Experiences of acceptance or resistance within the library I.T. community
• Tips and advice for other women seeking a career in library I.T.
• Changes in your career path because of entering library I.T.
• Changes you'd like to see happen within the library I.T. culture
• Advice for library management on how to improve library I.T. culture
• A vision for the future about/for women in library I.T.

Timeline:Submission deadline: 27th March 2017Notification/Feedback regarding submission: 12th May 2017Editing and revision: June - July 2017Final manuscript due to publisher: September 2017

Submissions:This volume will contain commentary, stories, and essays (from 140 characters to 1,500 words).If your submission is tentatively accepted, we may request modifications.Material cannot be previously published.To submit your essay, please fill out this Google form: https://goo.gl/forms/6oE82aFe7atFlP6j1

any questions

Call for case studies - Reading for health and wellbeing in libraries and information services

The call is now open for case studies on "Reading for health and wellbeing in libraries and information services" to be published by Facet Publishing.
The book will cover "bibliotherapy" which is defined as "the therapeutic use of books and other materials with individuals or with groups of people" (Howie, 1988). This includes activities:

• involving people of different ages
• focused on people with a particular condition or concerned with promoting wellbeing more generally
• working with individuals or groups
• focused on specific groups or a more general audience
• making use of self-help books or imaginative literature or other media
• taking place in a traditional library setting or in other locations 
• run as short term projects or as embedded services

Final chapters will be 3000-4000 words. 

Interested applicants should send an abstract (200-300 words) and a brief biographical statement to s.mcnicol@mmu.ac.uk by the 3rd March 2017.

Suggested format for abstracts is:

• Brief project description: what are you doing? Are you following a particular model of bibliotherapy? Who is the audience?
• Aims: What do you hope people will gain from participating?
• Outcomes: What have people actually gained from participating?
• Reflections: What are you most proud of? What would you do differently?

Call for papers - IFLA Genealogy & Local History Section

The call for papers is now open for an open session held by the IFLA Genealogy and Local History Section joint with the Asia and Oceania Section and the Information Technology Section. The session will be held during the IFLA World Library and Information Congress on the 21st August 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.

The submission deadline is 18th March 2017.

More information.