CFP: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2009)

CFP: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2009)

You are kindly invited to participate in the Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2009), Chania, Crete, Greece, 26-29 of May, 2009.

The conference expands the main theme and presentations given 10 years earlier in the successful IATUL 1999 conference, organizer Dr. Anthi Katsirikou then director of the library of Technical University of Crete.

The theme of the 20th IATUL 1999 conference in Chania was the "The Future of Libraries in Human Communication". The forthcoming QQML 2009 Conference will focus in an expanded theme covering Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries.
QQML2009 is organized under the umbrella of ASMDA International Society organizing conferences on data analysis from 1981

Qualitative and Quantitative Methods (QQM) are proved more and more popular tools for Librarians, because of their usefulness to the everyday professional life. QQM aim to the assessment and improvement of the services, to the measurement of the functional effectiveness and efficiency. QQM are the mean to make decisions on fund allocation and financial alternatives. Librarians use also QQM in order to determine why and when their users appreciate their services. This is the start point of the innovation involvement and the ongoing procedure of the excellent performance. Systematic development of quality management in libraries requires a detailed framework, including the quality management standards, the measurement indicators, the self-appraisal schedules and the operational rules. These standards are practice-oriented tools and a benchmarking result. Their basic function is to express responsibly the customer (library user) -supplier (library services) relationship and provide a systematic approach to the continuous change onto excellence. The indoor and outdoor relationships of libraries are dependent of their communication and marketing capabilities, challenges, opportunities and implementation programmes.

The Conference will attend library professionals: professors, administrators, technologists, museum scientists, archivists, decision makers and managers.
As the conference papers will be included in a Book titled:
"Advances in Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries"
please follow precisely the given Template following the format and instructions from World Scientific Publishing Co.

If you propose a Special Session including 4-5 papers, the papers will be included into the book as a Specific Chapter under the title of the special session.
Special Session proposals should have the session title, the name and affiliation of the organizer and a brief description (5-10 lines).

You may upload the Abstract/Paper Template and formulate your paper according to the instructions: http://www.isast.org/presentations/abstractpapersubmission.html
Please submit your paper in MS Word format as an email attachment to secretariat@isast.org

You can also submit your Abstract electronically by using the facilities of the conference website.
For more information and submission details visit the Conference Website at: http://www.isast.org/

CALL FOR CHAPTERS: Book: “Recruitment, Development, and Retention of Information Professionals: Trends in Human Resources and Knowledge Management”

CALL FOR CHAPTERS: Book: “Recruitment, Development, and Retention of Information Professionals: Trends in Human Resources and Knowledge Management”

Proposal Submission Deadline: October 30, 2008
Full Chapter Deadline: February 15, 2009

Book: “Recruitment, Development, and Retention of Information Professionals: Trends in Human Resources and Knowledge Management”
A book edited by: Elisabeth Pankl, Danielle Theiss-White, and Mary C. Bushing

Introduction
With the projected retirement openings in the field of information science and management and the ever growing need for knowledge management, the need for a viable workforce is more pressing than ever before. Our handbook will provide both information professionals and their organizations with the skills and knowledge necessary to strengthen and develop the profession.

Objectives of the book

Our objective is to inform and to expand the current literature on the career development of information professionals by bringing together the expertise of practicing information professionals in the 21st century. This handbook will bring together this disparate yet exciting and vibrant profession by sharing how various information professionals encourage the recruitment, retention and career development of individuals within their organizations whether at a single workplace or on a regional, state, or national level. Thus, this handbook will provide a toolkit for employers, new information professionals, and information organizations.

The target audience

The prospective audience of our proposed text is composed of several distinct groups. Perhaps the most important group is the future information professionals. This group will benefit immensely from the information, real-life experiences, advice, and future developments detailed in the book. Another important group is the employers of information professionals. Employers will be able to use the information in the book to design and implement recruitment, development, and retention policies and procedures that further both the success and longevity of the profession and their own organizations. A third, but not final, group is the teachers and trainers of information professionals. All quality professional training incorporates not only the technical skills required for employment and advancement, but also the myriad of affective elements that shape one’s professional career.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
· Retention and/or recruitment research and/or practices and the information professional
· Retention and/or recruitment research and/or practices and diversity in the workplace or profession
· Mentoring policies, programs, procedures, and outcomes from an individual, organizational, regional, state, or national level
· Mentor/mentee relationships
· Mentoring in the professions/peer mentoring
· State, Regional, National leadership programs and outcomes
· Succession leadership planning
· Trends in Human Resources and the information professional/personnel management
· Career development guidance
· Organizational culture/group dynamics
· Orientation programs
· Continuing education/training/in-service education
· Librarianship as a profession
· MLS/MLIS/Library Media Specialist/Library Certification education programs
· Regional, state, and/or national information professional associations and their involvement with career development, recruitment to the profession, and retention

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit a 2-5 page proposal clearly explaining the objectives and concerns of the proposed chapter by October 30, 2008. The status of submitted proposals will be communicated by November 15, 2008. At that time, the authors of accepted proposals will be provided with chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by February 15, 2009. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. The book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group, Inc.), www.igi-global.com, publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formally Idea Group Reference) and “Medical Information Science Reference” imprints.

Inquiries and Submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) to:

recruitment-development-retention@googlegroups.com

Elisabeth Pankl
Humanities Librarian and Assistant Professor
K-State Libraries
epankl@ksu.edu

Danielle Theiss-White
General Reference Coordinator and Assistant Professor
K-State Libraries
dtheiss@ksu.edu

CFP: Michigan Library Association 2008 Conference

CFP: Michigan Library Association 2008 Conference

October 21-24, 2008
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Deadline: January 31, 2008

Call for Papers Form

Call for Presentations for MLA's 2008 Annual Conference at the Radisson in Kalamazoo, October 22-24, 2008. We will not be holding a preconference this year so conference will be three days instead of four.

This year's theme, Shaping our Tomorrow, encompasses all that we do today to make tomorrow better as an association, at our libraries, and in our own professional and personal lives. It is a message of hope and a message of action. As you consider your program proposals, think about the following: What tools do we need to learn to use to be successful tomorrow? How should we shape our collections, content, and physical or online spaces? What partnerships and collaborations can we foster in our communities to help each other? How can we develop as individual library workers to benefit both our own careers and meet our library's goals? What strategies do leaders need to develop or to deepen in order to guide their organizations?

The Conference Program Subcommittee invites you to investigate the following tracks for the conference and to think about both the future of our field and the practices and plans that are helping us get there:
• Access
• Advocacy
• Collections
• Leadership and Management
• Marketing/Fundraising
• Patron Service
• Technology

The goal of this conference is to provide the tools necessary to ensure that library services and programs continue to be vital resources for the 21st Century communities. Our future is in our hands.

If you have any questions, please email Kara Gust (Michigan State University) at gustk@msu.edu

CFP: The Expert Library: Staffing, Sustaining, and Advancing the Academic Library in the 21st Century

CFP: The Expert Library: Staffing, Sustaining, and Advancing the Academic Library in the 21st Century

How will the academic library change in order to remain a core contributor to the missions of the 21st century college or university, and what skills do academic library professionals need to master in order to remain vital members of the evolving campus community? How will we define the expertise that libraries and library professionals bring to the broader issues associated with research, teaching, learning, and service? How will the academic library remain an active partner with classroom faculty, IT professionals, and others on campuses where both
the information environment and the expectations for higher education are in flux?

Whether you are a subject specialist who has been asked to become an expert in assessment, a bibliographer whose focus has shifted from collection building to scholarly communications, a reference librarian who has become a key contributor to instructional design efforts, or a
library professional whose skills in areas like copyright management, user studies, facilities management, or digital publishing are essential to emergent library initiatives, this is your opportunity to contribute to a discussion both about how the academic library is changing, and
about how the range of responsibilities for librarians and other library professionals are evolving.

This collection will focus on two ideas: 1) the 2007 statement by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) that one of the "Top 10 Assumptions for the Future of Academic Libraries" is that "the skill set for librarians will continue to evolve in response to the needs and
expectations of the . . . [populations] that they serve"; and, 2) the suggestion made by James Neal (2006) that the academic library will become a venue for ongoing collaboration between professional librarians and other library professionals.

Whether focused on new definitions for library positions (e.g., Instructional Design Librarian, Assessment Coordinator, Scholarly Communications Coordinator), on new organizational structures within libraries (e.g., Undergraduate Initiatives, Digital Publishing Office, Copyright Advisory Office), on new expectations for core competencies for academic librarians (e.g., teaching effectiveness, technology skills), or on the ways in which libraries and library professionals must evolve in response to the changing nature of the academic environment and the learned professions, contributions to this collection should address the overarching question:

What are the skills that librarians must have, and the roles that libraries must play, in
order to remain relevant on the 21st century campus?

The editors are especially interested in proposals that fall under the following broad categories:

* Changing roles for academic libraries on campus;

* Redefining traditional roles and responsibilities in reference, systems, technical services, or instruction librarianship;

* Identifying new positions and responsibilities becoming common among libraries;

* Establishing new organizational structures designed to support new roles for library professionals or libraries;

* Recruiting and mentoring new professions and new professionals into the library; and,

* Case studies in organizational development or re-alignment of professional responsibilities.

The collection will be edited by Scott Walter (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Vicki Coleman (Arizona State University), and Karen Williams (University of Minnesota) and will be published by the Association of College & Research Libraries.

Please send inquiries or proposals (300-500 words) to Scott Walter by January 2, 2008. Notification of proposal acceptance will be made no later than January 31, 2008, and completed
chapters will be due by June 30, 2008.