Advances in Library Administration and Organization
Challenging the “Jacks of All Trades but Masters of None” Librarian Syndrome
Publication due 2018
Series Editor: Samantha Hines, Peninsula College
Volume Editor: George J. Fowler, Old Dominion University
Librarianship may be said to be facing an identity crisis. It may also be said that librarianship has been facing an identity crisis since it was proposed as a profession. With the advent of technology that lowers barriers to the access of information, the mission of a library has become indistinct. This volume will explore the current purpose of librarianship and libraries, how we become “Masters of our Domains”, develop expertise in various elements of the profession, and how we extend outward into our communities.
Proposals in the following areas would be of particular interest:
- What is the purpose of a library in a community? And what roles in the community best align with that purpose?
- How ought we gather and implement expertise from outside the profession?
- How can we communicate and garner support from the government, the private sector and users in order to achieve our purpose?
- How can libraries balance demands to serve other needs that detract from the library’s ability to fulfill its purpose?
- How can libraries build community around this purpose, and how ought they reach out to their communities to engage and serve them?
- How can libraries demonstrate positive impact on young generations?
- What opportunities are opened to libraries and librarians by recent and potential future technological advancements?
About the Advances in Library Administration and Organization series
ALAO offers long-form research, comprehensive discussions of theoretical developments, and in-depth accounts of evidence-based practice in library administration and organization. The series answers the questions, “How have libraries been managed, and how should they be managed?” It goes beyond a platform for the sharing of research to provide a venue for dialogue across issues, in a way that traditional peer reviewed journals cannot. Through this series, practitioners can glean new approaches in challenging times and collaborate on the exploration of scholarly solutions to professional quandaries.
How to submit
If you are interested in contributing to this volume, please send an abstract of 300 words or less as well as author details and estimated length of final submission to Samantha Hines at shines@pencol.edu by March 31, 2017.
Submission deadlines
- Submission deadline for proposals: March 31, 2017
- Notification of acceptance sent by: June 30, 2017
- Submission deadline for full chapters: August 31, 2017
- Comments returned to authors: October 31, 2017
- Submission deadline for chapter revisions: November 30, 2017
