We would like to invite you to contribute a chapter for an upcoming book – working title: Visualizing the Library: A Primer on visual research methods in Library and Information Sciences – edited by Shailoo Bedi and Jenaya Webb in collaboration with Facet Publishing.
Why contribute?
While various qualitative methods and ethnographic approaches have seen an increase in the library and information sciences (LIS) literature, visual methods are only beginning to gain speed in the discipline. This book would be the first on the topic of visual research methods in the field of LIS as such we invite you to be part of this groundbreaking work.
The purpose of this book is to provide a strong theoretical and methodological context for the use of visual research methods for information studies and to showcase examples of visual research methods “in action”. As our users increasingly document, share, and narrate their lives through images on social media, we seek to harness the power of images to understand their experiences in information spaces.
Book format:
- Part 1 will be written by Shailoo Bedi and Jenaya Webb to provide an overview of visual Research methods, a discussion of theoretical approaches to images, a survey of the types of visual research methods in use in LIS and other disciplines, and a chapter on working with visual data.
- Part 2 will showcase contributions from researchers and practitioners using visual research methods in a variety of contexts (eg. galleries, libraries, archives, and museums).
Going beyond a step-by-step “how to” guide, this book will provide readers with practical approaches to applying visual research methods as a methodological approach while providing a grounding in research theories and the overarching theoretical foundations underpinning visual research methods. Thus, readers will come away equipped to apply visual methods in their research and practice along with the ability to frame their research in theory.
We hope the methodological and theoretical discussions in the book will inspire researchers, practitioners, and students alike and help provide a rigorous and scholarly context for their work.
For more information:
If you are interested in this opportunity and would like to contribute, please contact Shailoo Bedi (shailoo@uvic.ca) and Jenaya Webb (jenaya.webb@utoronto.ca) with a brief expression of interest by September 30th, 2018.
Timelines:
Interested authors will be asked to submit a proposal for chapter contributions in the form of a 500 to 800 word abstract by October 31st , 2018. Final chapter to editors due May 31st, 2019. Publication of the book is planned for January 2020.
