Call for Presentation Proposals
2014 Library Research Round Table Forums at
ALA Annual Conference,
Chicago, IL
The Library Research Round Table (LRRT) will sponsor two Research Forums at the 2014 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV (June 26-July 1, 2014). 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. One of the forums is broad in scope and one is on a more specific topic.
The forums are:
Research: Data-Driven Decision-Making
Libraries collect data on usage of collections, services, and physical space. However, much of these data are not utilized to capacity. This session will feature three research papers that demonstrate how to leverage user-centered data to develop services. Audience members will learn about methods and techniques that they can use locally to answer questions in their own organizations. Attendees will be able to take away results that could be applied directly in local settings and make connections with presenters and one another to explore creative ways to respond to challenges.
Research: Creativity & 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. Attendees will discover methods and techniques that they previously were not familiar with, but can be employed in their libraries. Audience members will become cognizant of new questions or emerging ways to state and think about problems. The results presented will offer directly applicable solutions that can be adapted by attendees in their organizations.
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, assessment, evaluation of library and information services, organizational structure and personnel, cooperative collection management, collection assessment, digital libraries, archiving, preservation, and data curation. 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 six projects, three for each of the two forums. The selected researchers will be required to present their papers in person at the forums and to register for the conference. All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation, etc., are the responsibility of the researchers/presenters.
Criteria for selection are:
- Significance of the study to library and information science research;
- Quality and creativity of the methodology;
- Potential to fill a research gap or to build on previous LIS studies;
- Adherence to submission requirements (see below).
Please submit a two-page proposal by Monday, February 17, 2014. 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 February 17, 2014, will not be considered.
Notification of acceptance will be made by Friday, March 28, 2014. Please email submissions (with an indication of which of the two forums for which the abstract should be considered) to:
JoAnn Jacoby
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: jacoby@illinois.edu
