Thursday, October 31, 2019

CFP: Michigan Academic Library Association (MiALA) 2020 Annual Conference

Grounded and Growing

The need to grow and change is a constant for libraries as we respond and adapt to our evolving academic environments. As we celebrate 5 years of MiALA and look towards the future of the organization, we will explore the ways academic libraries are initiating and managing change, not just redefining and reevaluating, but growing from a place that is grounded in our strengths and aligned with community needs. How do we continue what is working and critically examine and pivot from what is not?

MiALA invites you and your colleagues to submit presentation proposals for the 5th annual conference to be held May 14-15, 2020 at Ferris State University. Participation from librarians, library staff, LIS students, and administrators from all types of academic libraries is encouraged.  MiALA membership is not required to submit a proposal. We welcome proposals on any topic related to academic libraries, including, but not limited to:

  • Access Services
  • Accessibility
  • Administration
  • Assessment and Evaluation
  • Budgets
  • Cataloging and Metadata
  • Collections
  • Critical Librarianship
  • Distance or Online Learning
  • Education and Curriculum
  • Electronic Resources
  • Fine Arts
  • Health Sciences
  • Instruction and Information Literacy
  • Leadership
  • Michigan Alma
  • Mid-Level Management
  • Open Educational Resources
  • Outreach
  • Research Services or Reference
  • Residency
  • Resource Sharing
  • STEM
  • Technical Services
  • Technology
  • User Experience
  • Web Development and Design

We are seeking the following presentation formats: 
  • Presentations (40 min.)
  • Panels (40 min.)
  • Moderated group discussions or mini-workshops (40 min.) The committee is particularly interested in proposals that include interactive or active learning components.
  • Mini-presentations (20 min.) 

****Prior to submitting your proposal, please review the information provided on the Breakout Session Guidelines page.****

Please submit your breakout session proposal using the application form located here by December 11th, 2019. The primary contact listed on each proposal will receive a message indicating receipt of the proposal when it is submitted and decisions on proposals will be communicated to the primary contact by Monday, January 11th, 2020.

Questions about proposals can be sent to Jessica Hronchek hronchek@hope.edu. Questions about the conference in general can be sent to conference@miala.org

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Propose a Topic for the ITAL "Public Libraries Leading the Way" Column

Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL), the quarterly open-access journal published by ALA’s Library Information Technology Association, is looking for contributors for its regular “Public Libraries Leading the Way” column. This column highlights a technology-based innovation or approach to problem solving from a public library perspective. Topics we are interested in include the following, but proposals on any other technology topic are welcome.

  • 3-D printing and makerspaces
  • Civic technology
  • Drones
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion and technology
  • Privacy and cyber-security
  • Virtual and augmented reality
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Big data
  • Internet of things
  • Robotics
  • Geographic information systems and mapping
  • Library analytics and data-driven services
  • Anything else related to public libraries and innovations in technology

To propose a topic, use this brief form, which will ask you for three pieces of information:
  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • A brief (75-150 word) summary of your proposed column that describes your library, the technology you wish to write about and your experience with it.

Columns are in the 1,000-1,500 word range and may include illustrations. These will not be research articles, but are meant to share practical experience with technology development or uses within the library. Proposals are due by November 30, and selections will be made by December 15.

If you have questions, contact Ken Varnum, Editor, at varnum@umich.edu.


Sincerely,
Ken Varnum, Editor
Information Technologies and Libraries

Monday, October 28, 2019

CFP: PSQ Special Issue - “Special Libraries, Special Challenges” - Public Services Quarterly

PSQ Call for Submissions

Call for Submissions
The “Special Libraries, Special Challenges” column of Public Services Quarterly is currently seeking submissions that explore all aspects of working in a special library. Each piece is approximately 2,000 words and focused on practical ideas rather than theory. Case studies are welcome.

Column Description
“Special Libraries, Special Challenges” is a column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, business, and so forth. In each column, the author will discuss public service dilemmas and solutions that arise specifically in special libraries. 

Potential Key Topic Areas
·         Novel service ideas and pilot projects
·         New approaches to tackling perennial issues in special libraries
·         Communicating value to stakeholders
·         Collaborating on interdisciplinary initiatives
·         Professional and continuing development
·         Emerging trends, such as empirical research, data analytics and alt-metrics
·         Various literacies (IL, media, technology, etc.)
·         Other ideas welcomed!

Contact
Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact the co-editors, Patti Gibbons (pgibbons@uchicago.edu) or Deborah Schander (deborah.schander@shu.edu). 

Saturday, October 26, 2019

CFP: Caution: Librarians at Work - Urban Librarians Conference - Brooklyn NY May 2020

If you work at an urban library take a look at this upcoming professional development opportunity to be held in Brooklyn, NY in May of 2020.  


Caution: Librarians at Work
The 2020 Urban Librarians Conference, “Caution: Librarians at Work!” will be focusing on the pragmatic realities of working urban librarians. Including topics like , working conditions, trauma in the workplace, mid-career development, badass library workers, diversity in the library workforce, rights and protections for staff, and philosophies of work and management.

Conference organizers have a call for proposals open now through December 31.


Friday, October 25, 2019

Call for ATG Reporters - Charleston Conference (November 2019) @chsconf @ATG_NewsChannel

CALL FOR ATG REPORTERS: Seeking Charleston Conference session reporters for publication, "Against the Grain."
 
Prior to the conference, contact reports compiler, Ramune Kubilius 
<r-kubilius@northwestern.edu>, noting the session title/s, date/s, time/s of desired session/s for reporting (inclusion of the schedule url is helpful). To avoid duplication or overlap, reporters will receive confirmation of their sessions.
 
Guidelines:
  • Reports should be 100-200 words (preconferences and plenary session reports can run a bit longer, but not by too much).
  • The succinct reports should re-cap the highlights of the session. Minute details are NOT needed, since a number of speakers post their presentations
    in the conference website and many also submit papers to the Proceedings.
Note session highlights, whether the session proceeded "as advertised", or if there were some shortcomings.
  • Reports should include any changes in titles or speakers that are revealed at the session and differ from what was presented in the listed program.
 
Session reports will be due to the compiler, Ramune Kubilius
<r-kubilius@northwestern.edu>, by Friday, December 6, 2019.
 
The reports will be published in "Against the Grain", starting in the first 2020 issues, in conference session order.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

CFP: IASSIST 2020 (Gothenburg, Sweden - May 2020)

IASSIST 2020 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Conference website: https://iassist2020.org/
Conference hashtag: #IASSIST20
The 46th annual conference of the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST<http://iassistdata.org/>) will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden from May 19 to 22, 2020.

Data by Design: Building a Sustainable Data Culture

We welcome submissions that showcase the various ways our IASSIST community is approaching "data by design" and tackling the challenges of building and sustaining data communities, practices and tools. In the tradition of Scandinavian design, characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality, we welcome modern or ambitious approaches that your organization has been looking at more recently to keep pace with the ever-increasing amount of data, and new ways of publishing and accessing it. While a variety of submission topics are desired, we encourage you to think about if and how your topic may fit into one of the following tracks:


*         Partnerships and collaborations

What is the data culture like at your organization? What infrastructure - hardware, software, people or policies - are you leveraging, and is it enough? Who do you partner and collaborate with, both within and outside your own organization, and can we learn from these networking environments?


*         Data management and archiving
How can we build a community of data sharing that is equitable for all? How can we learn from each other's approaches to demonstrating trust to lay a strong foundation? Have you designed any new and useful approaches and tools that can help in this space?


*         Data access, governance and ethics
As data practitioners we adhere to key principles of protecting human rights and high ethical standards. What principles, practices and tools have you worked on around data access, especially where there may be added risk in data publishing and use.


*         Data documentation and reproducibility
For a data community to persist, members need to share a common data language. What new approaches are you using to design documentation to facilitate our shared understanding? What strategies or tools have you designed that will help us respond best to the current reproducibility 'crisis'?


*         Data literacy
A robust community includes not only experienced practitioners, but also newcomers. What innovative or successful approaches are you using around the topic of data literacy and how can we, as a community, better equip new practitioners with this important skill?

This year we also welcome suggestions for Special Interest Group and Birds of a Feather sessions, and require a short proposal and a meeting agenda/discussion points to support these. Also, panel proposals should be made up of speakers from multiple organizations to encourage diversity of debate.

Finally, we expect to have many submissions, so we would kindly ask you to restrict submissions to one per person only.

Submitting Proposals - DEADLINE: 6 December 2019

We welcome submissions for papers, presentations, panels, posters, and lightning talks.

The Call for Presentations, along with the link to the submission form, is at:
https://iassist2020.org/conference/call-for-presentations-workshops/call-for-proposals-presentations/
 Questions about presentation submissions may be sent to the Program Co-Chairs (Stephanie Tulley, Stephanie Labou, and Louise Corti) at programme@lists.iassistdata.org<mailto:programme@lists.iassistdata.org>.

The Call for Workshops, along with the link to the submission form, is at:
https://iassist2020.org/conference/call-for-presentations-workshops/call-for-proposals-workshops/
 Questions about workshop submissions may be sent to the Workshop Coordinators, Eimmy Solis and Amber Sherman, at workshops@lists.iassistdata.org<mailto:workshops@lists.iassistdata.org>.


Deadline for ALL submissions: 6 December 2019

Notification of acceptance: Mid-January 2020

Support for Attending Conference
IASSIST Fellows Program supports data professionals from underrepresented regions and countries with emerging economies. IASSIST Early Professional Fellows Program helps early career data professionals recognizing the value of innovative ideas. Applications can be made at https://forms.gle/WcXocgWKZnz5CyL6A and will close January 17, 2020.
Address questions about the Fellows Programs to Florio Arguillas (foa2@cornell.edu<mailto:foa2@cornell.edu>).

We look forward to seeing you in Gothenburg in 2020! Contact programme@lists.iassistdata.org<mailto:programme@lists.iassistdata.org> for questions.

CFP: CJAL Special Issue: Academic Libraries and the Irrational (Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship) @CjalRcbu

CJAL Special Issue: Academic Libraries and the Irrational
(French follows / voir la version française ci-dessous)

This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship (CJAL/Rcbu) will consider whether the seemingly logical pursuit of innovation, accountability, and efficiency puts academic libraries at risk of becoming irrational or even absurd, that is, marked by contradiction and incoherence, ultimately alienating library workers and their publics. 

Academic libraries are bureaucratic and technocratic institutions: highly structured, rule-bound, and rationalized. In the current climate of austerity in higher education, which asks academic libraries to demonstrate their value to their host institutions by doing more with less, rationalization is a process that would appear to serve academic libraries well. However, as Max Weber (1968) argues, rationalization, when carried to an extreme, can become a form of irrationality, rendering bureaucracies inefficient, maladaptive, and dehumanizing. Drawing on this idea, David Graeber (2015) goes so far as to claim that bureaucracy is a form of existential violence that infringes upon human imagination and creativity.

As a growing number of LIS scholars have noted, this irrationality is evident in managerialism, McDonaldization, the cult of busyness, and discourses of the future and innovation in academic libraries, all of which serve to create a growing chasm between our stated values and our practices, ultimately alienating library workers. We seek articles and creative works that help us to see the irrational in the seemingly rational, to recognize the absurd in the commonsensical, and refocus our labour on those practices which more meaningfully support our constituents and communities.

Possible topics might include: 
  • Linguistic absurdities (e.g. doublespeak, buzz words, rhetorical obfuscations)
  • Bureaucracy/irrationality and professional practice (e.g. metrics, reporting requirements)
  • Bureaucratic structures/processes, and the irrational/absurd (e.g. managerialism, technocratic restructuring, hierarchies)
  • The fetishization of leadership
  • The cult of innovation and the future

Call for Proposals
Authors interested in participating are asked to submit a 750-1000 word proposal as an attachment by December 20th, 2019 by email to irrationaleditors@gmail.comCJAL (Rcbu) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal published by the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL). Articles submitted for review must fit the journal’s Focus and Scope. The journal is bilingual (Eng/Fr); proposals may be submitted in both languages.

This will be a peer-reviewed issue of CJAL (Rcbu). However we recognize the limits of traditional scholarly research in engaging the absurd and the irrational, and as such,  photo essays and/or creative works are also welcome. Authors interested in submitting a creative work are asked to contact the editors at irrationaleditors@gmail.com with a description of their project. If you have questions about themes or formats not listed here that you would like to discuss, please contact the editors: Karen Nicholson, Jane Schmidt and/or Lisa Sloniowski at irrationaleditors@gmail.com.

Proposal acceptances will be confirmed by January 20, 2020. Completed papers are due April 15, 2020. Anticipated publication date for the issue is December 15, 2020.

Guest Editors
Karen Nicholson is Manager, Information Literacy at the University of Guelph. She holds a PhD (LIS) from Western University. Her research focuses on academic libraries, critical librarianship, information literacy, time/space, and higher education.

Jane Schmidt is a liaison librarian at Ryerson University Library. Her research interests include community-led service, literary philanthropy and collection development.

Lisa Sloniowski works at York University as a teaching and liaison librarian in the Scott Library, and as an associate faculty member in the Graduate Program in English. Her research focuses on the archival function of academic libraries, affective labour, and the role of librarians in knowledge production.

References
Weber, Max. 1968. Economy and society. New York: Bedminster Press.
Graeber, David. 2015. The utopia of rules: On technology, stupidity, and the secret joys of bureaucracy. Melville House Publishing.


------------------------------------------------

Numéro thématique de la Rcbu : Les bibliothèques universitaires et l’irrationnel

Ce numéro spécial de la Revue canadienne de bibliothéconomie universitaire (Rcbu/CJAL) s’intéressera à la manière dont la recherche d’innovation, de responsabilisation et d’efficacité, recherche en apparence logique, met les bibliothèques universitaires à risque de tomber dans l’irrationnel ou même l’absurde, c’est-à-dire de s’enliser dans les contradictions et les incohérences, s’aliénant ultimement leurs travailleuses et travailleurs ainsi que leurs publics.

Les bibliothèques universitaires sont des institutions bureaucratiques et technocratiques : elles sont très structurées, soumises à des règles et rationalisées. Dans le contexte actuel d’austérité du milieu universitaire, qui exige des bibliothèques de faire la preuve de leur valeur aux universités en faisant plus avec moins, le processus de rationalisation pourrait sembler bénéfique aux bibliothèques. Cependant, comme le soutenait Max Weber (1968), la rationalisation, lorsque poussée à l’extrême, peut devenir une forme d’irrationalité, rendant les bureaucraties inefficaces, inadaptables et déshumanisantes. S’appuyant sur cette idée, David Graeber (2015) va jusqu’à prétendre que la bureaucratie est une forme de violence qui empiète sur l’imagination et la créativité humaines.

Comme un nombre grandissant de spécialistes en sciences de l’information le soulignent, cette irrationalité se manifeste dans le gestionnariat, la McDonaldisation, le culte de l’affairement (cult of busyness) ainsi que dans les discours sur l’avenir et l’innovation dans les bibliothèques universitaires. Cela contribue à créer un fossé grandissant entre les valeurs que nous préconisons et nos pratiques, avec pour conséquence de générer un sentiment d’aliénation chez les travailleuses et travailleurs en bibliothèque. Nous vous invitons à soumettre des articles et des créations qui nous aideront à révéler l’irrationnel parmi ce qui semble rationnel, à reconnaître l’absurde dans ce qui semble être le sens commun et à recentrer notre travail sur les pratiques qui soutiennent de manière plus significative nos membres et nos communautés.

 Voici quelques exemples de sujets qui pourraient être développés dans une proposition :
  • Absurdités linguistiques (par ex., double discours, mots à la mode (buzz words), faux-fuyants rhétoriques)
  • Bureaucratie/Irrationalité et pratique professionnelle (par ex., usage d’indicateurs, exigences en matière de rapport)
  • Structures ou processus bureaucratiques et l’irrationnel ou l’absurde (par ex., gestionnariat, restructuration technocratique, hiérarchies)
  • La fétichisation du leadership
  • L’obsession de l’innovation et de l’avenir

Appel de propositions
Les autrices et auteurs intéressé.e.s ont jusqu’au 20 décembre 2019 pour soumettre une proposition de 750 à 1000 mots en pièce jointe par courriel à l’adresse suivante : irrationaleditors@gmail.com. La Rcbu (CJAL) est une revue en libre accès et bilingue (français et anglais) dont les articles sont revus par les pairs. Elle est publiée par l’Association canadienne des bibliothécaires en enseignement supérieur (ACBES). Les articles soumis doivent correspondre à l’énoncé de mission de la revue.

Bien que ce numéro thématique de la Rcbu soit revu par les pairs, nous reconnaissons les limites de la recherche savante traditionnelle pour traiter de l’absurde et de l’irrationnel. Par conséquent, des essais photographiques ou des Å“uvres créatives peuvent aussi être soumis aux éditrices. Si vous souhaitez soumettre une telle proposition, vous êtes invité.e à contacter les éditrices à l’adresse suivante : irrationaleditors@gmail.com, en incluant une description de votre projet. Si vous avez des questions sur des thèmes ou des formats que vous souhaitez explorer, mais qui ne figurent pas dans l’appel de propositions, veuillez contacter les éditrices : Karen Nicholson, Jane Schmidt et Lisa Sloniowski à l’adresse suivante : irrationaleditors@gmail.com.

Les autrices et auteurs des propositions acceptées recevront une confirmation d’ici le 20 janvier 2020. La version définitive des manuscrits (ou des propositions créatives, selon ce qui aura été entendu avec les éditrices) doit être remise le 15 avril 2020. La date de publication prévue pour ce numéro thématique est le 15 décembre 2020.

Éditrices invitées
Karen Nicholson est responsable des programmes et services reliés à la maîtrise de l’information à la University of Guelph. Elle est titulaire d’un doctorat (LIS) de Western University. Ses recherches portent sur les bibliothèques universitaires, la bibliothéconomie critique, la maîtrise de l’information, le temps/l’espace et l’enseignement supérieur.

Jane Schmidt est bibliothécaire disciplinaire à la Ryerson University Library. Ses recherches portent sur les services dirigés par les communautés, la philanthropie littéraire et le développement de collections.

Lisa Sloniowski travaille à York University en tant que bibliothécaire disciplinaire et bibliothécaire enseignante à la Scott Library. Elle est aussi professeure agrégée au programme d’études supérieures en anglais. Ses recherches portent sur la fonction d’archivage des bibliothèques universitaires, sur le travail affectif et sur le rôle des bibliothécaires dans la production de la connaissance.

Références
Weber, Max. 1968. Economy and society. New York : Bedminster Press.
Graeber, David. 2015. The utopia of rules: On technology, stupidity, and the secret joys of bureaucracy. New York : Melville House Publishing.

CFP: Texas Conference on Digital Libraries (Austin, Texas - May 2020)

The Call for Proposals for TCDL 2020 is Now Open!

This year’s planning committee is developing exciting program for the Texas Conference on Digital Libraries (TCDL) 2020 and we’d love your help. If you have a project or topic that will help bring clarity and vision to the digital library and archives community, we invite you to submit a proposal by January 24, 2020.
2020 TCDL THEME

As Texas Digital Library embarks on a new decade, TCDL’s theme this year, 2020 Hindsight: Looking Back, Moving Forward, presents an opportunity to pause and reflect on lessons learned from past projects and initiatives, and envision fresh possibilities for the future. Proposals might detail projects that didn’t go as planned (for better or worse), address particular aspects of project management, or point us in new directions for digital collections and infrastructure. We encourage presenters to consider sharing past successes as well as failures that led to unexpected solutions or advice that might benefit the community.

The program committee additionally solicits traditional TCDL-addressed topics, such as discussions, presentations, or work on any step in the life-cycle of digital projects or the development of software, applications, and workflows in the digital library and archives community. 

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions are encouraged from students, scholars, and professionals in all career or study levels, representing themselves, public and private institutions, and organizations from around the world.
Sessions can take a number of forms, including:
  • Presentations: (25-minutes)
  • Panels: (60-minutes)
    • Proposals should be:
      • Multi-institutional
      • Based around the conference theme
      • Interactive or discussion-based
  • 24x7 Presentations: (24 slides in 7 minutes)
  • Posters and Minute Madness
  • Workshops or Tutorials
    • Proposals should include:
      • Objectives/outcomes for the session
      • Target audience, including the target level of expertise
      • Tech requirements
      • Time Expectation: 2, 4, or 8 hours
  • Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions
    • 1-hour sessions overlapping the lunch break

HOW TO SUBMIT

Visit our 
Call for Proposals website to get started and submit here when you’re ready. The proposal deadline is January 24, 2020.

Complete proposals must include a title, simplified abstract (no more than 100 words), extended abstract (no more than 500 words), and information for each speaker (name, title, institution, brief bio, and email address).

All submitted proposals are peer reviewed by the program committee to assure that the program provides significant, timely, and authoritative information.  They will be scored for 1) organization, 2) significance, 3) originality, and 4) relevance to the conference theme or TCDL-related topics areas. The planning committee reserves the right to suggest a different presentation type.

All papers presented at TCDL 2020 are published in the conference proceedings, and made available through the Texas Digital Library’s website. The conference language is English.

IMPORTANT DATES

  • October 18: Call for Proposals
  • January 24: Deadline for all conference proposals
  • February 21: Notification of acceptance
  • April 8: Early-bird registration deadline
  • Conference Dates: May 18-21, 2020 
  • Conference Location: Commons Conference Center on the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in Austin, Texas

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Happy abstract writing, y’all!

TCDL 2020 PLANNING COMMITTEE

  • Shelley Barba (committee vice-chair and poster session sub-committee chair), Digital Scholarship Librarian, Texas Tech University
  • Jon Crossno (proceedings sub-committee chair), Cataloging & Metadata Librarian, UT Southwestern Medical Center
  • Taylor Davis-Van Atta (CFP sub-committee chair), Digital Scholarship Coordinator, University of Houston
  • Lea DeForest, Communications Manager, Texas Digital Library
  • Taylor Fairweather, Scholarly Communication Librarian, West Texas A&M University
  • Linsey Ford, Research and Instruction Librarian, University of Houston – Clear Lake
  • Ramona Holmes (Leadership Academy sub-committee chair), Associate Director, University of North Texas Health Science Center
  • Jerrell Jones (scholarship sub-committee chair), Digitization Lab Manager, University of Houston
  • Marcia McIntosh (committee chair), Digital Production Librarian, University of North Texas
  • Mark Phillips, Associate Dean for Digital Libraries, University of North Texas
  • Alexandria Suarez, Conference Planner, Texas Digital Library
  • Rachel Winston, Black Diaspora Archivist, Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin
  • Amanda Zerangue, Manager of Digital Services & Scholarly Communication Librarian, Texas Woman’s University


Lea DeForest, MSIS
Communications Manager
Texas Digital Library
512-495-4639

Twitter @TxDigLibrary