Call for Presentation Proposals: 2012 Library Research Round Table Forums at ALA Annual Conference,
Anaheim, CA
The Library Research Round Table (LRRT) will sponsor two Research Forums at the 2012 American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA (June 21-26). The LRRT Forums are a set of programs at the ALA Annual Conference featuring presentations of LIS research, in progress or completed, followed by discussion. Three LRRT Research Forums are scheduled for 2012, two that are broad in scope and one on a more specific topic. The forums are:
Research to Understand Users: Issues and Approaches
This session will feature three library-related research papers investigating users and their use of libraries and information. An LRRT committee will select the winning papers based on quality of study design, significance of the research topic, and potential for significant contribution to librarianship.
Research into Practical Problem Solving in Libraries
Much of the most valuable and useful research in librarianship begins with the awareness of a challenge or problem that one perceives. For this session three papers that address such authentic problems will be selected for presentation. Again, a committee will evaluate submissions and select the papers to be presented.
Research: Creativity and Innovation
Novelty and innovation are needed to respond to many of today’s challenges. Libraries and librarians require new and creative approaches to defining questions and finding answers. Three papers that demonstrate innovative inquiry will be selected by a committee for inclusion in this Forum.
This is an opportunity to present and discuss your research project conducted in the broad area of library and information science or in a more specialized area of the field. LRRT welcomes papers emphasizing the problems, theories, methodologies, or significance of research findings for LIS. Topics can include, but are not limited to, user studies and user behavior, electronic services, service effectiveness, organizational structure and personnel, library value determination, collection and/or access assessment, development and use of repositories, archiving, preservation, and overall evaluation of library and information services. Both completed research and research in progress will be considered. All researchers, including practitioners from all types of libraries, library school faculty and students, and other interested individuals are encouraged to submit proposals. LRRT Members and nonmembers of LRRT are invited and welcomed to submit proposals.
The Committee will use a blind review process to select a maximum of nine projects, three for each of the three forums. The selected researchers will be required to present their papers in person at the forums and to register for the Annual Meeting (LRRT cannot pay for any expenses). Criteria for selection are:
1. Significance of the study to library and information science research;
2. Quality and creativity of the methodology;
3. Potential to fill a research gap or to build on previous LIS studies;
4. Adherence to submission requirements (see below).
Please submit a two-page proposal by Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Late submissions will not be considered, and submissions must be limited to two pages in length. On the first page, please list your name(s), title(s), institutional affiliation(s), and contact information (telephone number, mailing address, and email address). The second page should NOT show your name or any other identifying information. Instead, it must include: 1) The title of your project, and 2) A 500-word or less abstract. The abstract must include a problem statement, problem significance, project objectives, methodology, and conclusions (or tentative conclusions for work in progress), and an indication of whether the research is in-progress or completed. Previously published research or research accepted for publication by December 20, 2011, will not be considered.
Notification of acceptance will be made by Friday, February 24, 2010. Please email submissions (with an indication of which of the three forums for which the abstract should be considered) to:
John M. Budd
School of Information Science & Learning Technologies
University of Missouri
303 Townsend Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
(Email): buddj@missouri.edu
(Phone): 573-882-3258
(Fax): 573-884-4944
