Working title: Public Services and User Engagement
Guest editors
- Julie Garrison, Associate Dean for Research and Instructional Services, Grand Valley State University
- Kathleen De Long, Senior HR Officer (Secondment) and Director, Technology Training Centre, University of Alberta
- Marianne Ryan, Associate University Librarian for Public Services, Northwestern University
portal: Libraries and the Academy seeks proposals for a special-themed issue on the future of public services in academic libraries. The purpose of this issue is to prompt thinking and discourse around a broader definition of library services to the campus community, and most importantly, to examine the redefined role of innovative public services within twenty-first century academic libraries. Public services can involve any knowledge, skill, or functional specialty related to the user experience. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- New definitions and philosophies of public services
- Changing organizational structures and staffing models
- Increasing collaboration between university libraries and faculty
- Enhancing teaching and learning
- Examining the impact of emerging digital technologies and web services
- Transforming scholarly communication
- Emphasizing space as service
- Conducting effective service assessment
Publication of the special issue is tentatively planned for early 2017. Interested authors should submit an abstract of 300 words to the editors by December 1, 2015 and will be notified of decisions by January 1, 2016. Original, completed manuscripts are due by June 1, 2016, with earlier submissions encouraged. Final revised manuscripts will be due by September 1, 2016. Submitted papers should adhere to the format requirements of portal: Libraries and the Academy, described at http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/guidelines.html. Manuscripts will be subject to editorial assessment but not to blind peer review. Authors of papers invited to be revised and resubmitted will be expected to work within the designated time frame to meet the special issue’s publication deadline. We welcome inquiries and encourage authors interested in submitting to this special issue to discuss their submissions with the editors in advance.
Submission process and additional information
Send abstracts, related communication, and any questions about this special issue to the editors, Julie Garrison, Grand Valley State University, garrisoj@gvsu.edu, Kathleen De Long, University of Alberta, kathleen.delong@ualberta.ca, and Marianne Ryan, marianne-ryan@northwestern.edu.
