Where Your Ideas Shine
Building a brighter library community
Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass Phoenix, AZ May 25-27
Discover how academic libraries across North America are solving challenges, exploring new technologies and supporting their communities through peer-led sessions, networking opportunities and conversations with EBSCO experts.
CFP URL: https://ebscousergroup.org/submit-a-session/
Before You Submit
Please review the information below before submitting your proposal. Then, click the button at the bottom to enter the submission portal.
Proposal Deadline: October 30.
We welcome proposals from academic librarians and library staff who are using EBSCO products, services or content to support teaching, learning and research at their institutions.
You do not need to have a large-scale project, polished case study or formal presentation background to submit. Some of the most valuable User Group sessions come from practical, everyday work: solving a workflow challenge, improving discovery, promoting a database, evaluating usage, supporting faculty, testing a new approach or learning from something that did not go exactly as planned.
We encourage proposals from a range of library roles, including subject librarians, systems and electronic resources librarians, collection development teams, instruction and outreach librarians, administrators and anyone involved in connecting users with library resources.
Sessions are held in one of three formats:
- Standard Presentation – 40-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A (1-2 speakers)
- Panel Presentation – 40-minute presentation or discussion + 10-minute Q&A (3-4 speakers)
- Innovation Session – 10-minute presentation + open Q&A, lightning round format
To help you shape your proposal, we invite submissions in the following session pathways. These are not formal agenda tracks, and proposals may fit more than one area.
Research Journey and User Experience
This area focuses on evaluating and improving user workflows through optimization and integration of tools and services. It includes:
- Improving the research experience
- Configuring discovery tools
- Integrating new tools into existing services
- Reducing friction in access or authentication
- Understanding user behavior
- Applying usability findings
Collections, Content and Database Strategy
This area focuses on identifying, analyzing, and sharing use cases around library content and collection development. It includes:
- Database evaluation
- Subject-specific resource use cases
- Collection development strategy
- Faculty engagement
- Content gaps and emerging needs
- Managing renewals, cancellations or budget pressure
- Connecting users with high-value content
AI, Innovation and Emerging Technology
This area focuses on use cases and expectations for newer and emerging technology. It includes:
- AI in library services
- Linked data
- Automation
- New service models
- Emerging student or faculty expectations
- Responsible technology adoption
- Pilots, experiments and lessons learned
Implementation, Migration and Change Management
This area focuses on practical tips and storytelling related to new product or service adoption and internal stakeholder input. It includes:
- Product migrations and new platform rollouts
- Internal training
- Stakeholder communication
- Launch planning
- Troubleshooting
- Staff adoption
- Lessons learned after go-live
Analytics, Assessment and Demonstrating Value
This area focuses on how libraries can demonstrate value through off-the-shelf reporting strategies or more creative approaches to analysis. It includes:
- Usage reporting
- Assessment strategy
- Dashboarding
- ROI and value conversations
- Student or faculty engagement metrics
- Communicating impact to campus stakeholders
Teaching, Outreach and Campus Engagement
This area focuses on maximizing engagement with students, faculty, and other communities served by the library. It includes:
- Information literacy
- Faculty partnerships
- Student outreach efforts
- Database instruction
- Supporting specific disciplines
- Research consultations
- Building awareness of tools or collections
Strong proposals often focus on one or more of the following angles:
- A practical workflow others can adapt
- A challenge your team solved or is still working through
- A decision-making process that helped your library move forward
- A pilot, experiment or early lesson learned
- A content, tool or service strategy that improved user engagement
- A collaboration between library teams, campus partners or vendors
- A before-and-after look at a configuration, implementation or outreach effort
