CFP: 2014 IFLA International Newspapers Conference (Salt Lake City, Utah - February 2014)

Start Spreading the News!

Date:  February 4 - 5, 2014

Venue:  FamilySearch Headquarters, Salt Lake City, Utah

Registration Information: There is no charge for registration! Click here for further details.

Submission date extended to December 16!  And for those outside North America, the proposals for a virtual presentation via Skype video and desktop sharing will also be considered.

The IFLA Newspapers Section is currently seeking papers on or about outreach and marketing strategies for using or promoting online newspaper content, text mining, users of newspaper content, and use of news content for research purposes or as primary sources for historical or contemporary themes for its upcoming United States-hosted conference.  In addition to papers focused on the theme of Start Spreading the News, sub-themes on, but not limited to, the following topics are being sought:  

• Use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, news blogs, Flickr, etc.to expose news and raise awareness of news content to users
• Emerging research methodologies in using news and news content
• Text mining newspapers and news content
• Technologies used in text mining and in the presentation of mined data
• Case studies of statistical and word patterns research planned or underway of mined news content
• Traditional research underway in using digitized newspaper collections
• Users’ experiences with digitized newspaper collections
• Usability expectations
• Innovative methods for design, use, and engagement of users in newspaper content systems.
• Strategies for finding, or finding out about, newspapers in the semantic web.
•  Other paper topics relevant to the main conference theme will also be considered.

As shown by surveys conducted by the National Library of Australia, the California Digital Newspaper Collection, the Cambridge Public Library, and others, historical newspapers are an important source of information for genealogists.  Not coincidentally, the IFLA International Newspaper Conference will be held just prior to the 2014 RootsTech Family History and Technology Conference Feb 6-8 (https://rootstech.org/).  We encourage authors and conference attendees to consider attending RootsTech as well as the International Newspaper Conference.

Submission Guidelines

• Paper topic abstract proposals must be submitted in English as an MS file
• Each abstract proposal, in English, must include:
• Title of proposed paper
• Abstract of proposed paper (no more than 300 words)
• Name(s) of author(s) plus position and/or title
• Employer / affiliated institution
• Contact information including email address, telephone number
• Short biographical statement of author(s)

In consideration of potential presenters outside of North America who may be unable to attend in person due to funding or time constraints, the conference planning committee will consider Virtual Presentation proposals for the program with the same validity as the face-to-face (F2F) conference and with the capability to interact with session participants. We expect virtual participation via Skype video and desktop sharing.

Proposal abstracts should be submitted to:

Sue Kellerman (Email:  LSK3@psu.edu )

Abstracts must be submitted by December 16, 2013

Authors of accepted papers will be notified by December 30, 2013.

Accepted papers and public presentation

• Complete accepted papers should be approximately 3,000-6,000 words in length and must be an original submission; not published elsewhere
• Accepted papers must be written in English
• The accepted paper will be made available on the IFLA Newspapers Section website
• A 20-25 minutes public presentation of a summary of the accepted paper will delivered at the International Newspaper Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah

·       Any accompanying presentation PowerPoint slides must be submitted before the

Conference by January 30, 2014

To discuss any matters relating to this Call for Papers, please contact any of the following conference planning committee members:

Birdie MacLennan <bmaclenn@uvm.edu>

Sue Kellerman <LSK3@psu.edu>

Frederick Zarndt < frederick@frederickzarndt.com>

Important Dates & Web Site Information

December 16, 2013                       Paper topic abstract due
December 30, 2013           Acceptance notices sent to authors
January 30, 2014                Completed paper and slide presentation submitted

IFLA International Newspaper Conference web site (sponsored by Utah Library Association):  http://www.ula.org/content/2014-ifla-international-newspapers-conference

IFLA Newspapers Section International Newspaper Conference 2014 - Announcement:
http://www.ifla.org/node/8005

Note:  The IFLA Newspapers Section regrets that it has no funding to assist prospective authors. 

Moreover, the submission of an abstract must be on the understanding that the costs of attending the conference including registration, travel, accommodation and other expenses are the responsibility of the presenters of the accepted papers or their institutions. No financial support can be provided by IFLA.