Call for Chapter Proposals for “Exploring Discovery: The Front Door to a Library’s Licensed and Digitized Content” (ALA Editions)

This call for chapter proposals is for a book tentatively titled Exploring Discovery: The Front Door to a Library’s Licensed and Digitized Content, edited by Ken Varnum (University of Michigan), to be published by ALA Editions (http://www.alaeditions.org/).

Proposal Submission Deadline: January 16, 2015

About the Book
This book will explore the range of discovery-focused tools and technologies being deployed by libraries. It will provide a series of case studies illustrating the interfaces and technologies that can be used by libraries today. What cutting-edge tools and services are emerging from the growing suite of discovery interfaces and indexes? Where is “discovery” going, and what tools and techniques are emerging as standard elements in the library technology toolbox? Chapter topics include, but are not limited to:

• Implementations of discovery tools based on commercial products such as Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, Primo Central, and WorldCat Discovery Services.
• Implementation of discovery tools using locally developed or other back-end databases and services.
• Novel discovery implementations using open source tools such as Blacklight, Solr, Hydra/Fedora, VuFind, etc.
• Investigations and/or implementations of user-focused services based on discovery tools.
• Case studies about integrating services and tools from multiple discovery vendors into a single system.

Target Audience
Librarians and library technology staff who work with discovery interfaces, course management systems, provide current awareness or alert services, or are otherwise involved in electronic resource reference.

How to Submit a Proposal
Chapters will be in the range of 3,000-4,500 words. To propose a chapter, please prepare a brief (300 word) abstract abstract of your proposed chapter and a brief biographical paragraph for each author. Email it to Ken Varnum, varnum@umich.edu, byJanuary 16, 2015.

Compensation: one complimentary copy per published submission no matter how many co-authors. Authors retain copyright in their own contribution.

Important Dates
January 16, 2015: Final deadline for chapter proposals
January 31, 2015: Notification of proposal decisions
April 15, 2015: Chapter first drafts due
May 15, 2015: Editor’s comments returned to authors
June 15, 2015: Revised drafts due
July 15, 2015: Final acceptance notification
July 31, 2015: Final revision due
August 15, 2015: Submission of manuscript to publisher

Contact for More Information
Submit proposals and questions to Ken Varnum <varnum@umich.edu> by January 16, 2015.