Information Technology and Libraries Journal (ITAL), an open-access journal of ALA's Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures division, is seeking authors for its ongoing "ITAL &" column.
The "ITAL &" column is a non-peer-reviewed, featured column that focuses on ways in which the library's role continues to expand and develop in the information technology landscape. The emphasis will be on emerging ideas and issues, with a particular aim to recruit new-to-the-profession columnists.
This column is intended to be practitioner-focused, and we will happily entertain submissions from folks who have expertise in libraries and technology, but who may not work in a traditional "library" environment or role. We are also happy to work with first-time authors and folks based outside of North America, though columns need to be submitted in English.
Since this is a non-peer-reviewed column, there is also an opportunity to engage in new ways or different formats, so creative submissions will also be considered. (Examples: comics, zines, videos, autoethnography, case studies, white papers, policy documents, interviews, reports, or other things commonly referred to as "grey literature.") If you would like your column to be in a format that differs from a standard editorial essay, please explain in your proposal.
Future topics could include, but are not limited to: artificial intelligence, disability and accessibility, cybersecurity and privacy, the open movement / open pedagogy, linked data and metadata, digital humanities / digital praxis, digitization efforts, programming and workshops, the overlap between library technology and other library departments (acquisitions, readers advisory, information literacy and instruction, scholarly communications), or other emerging technologies and their implications for library work. An index of past columns can be found at ital.corejournals.org/index.php/ital/ital-and-column.
Those who are interested in being an author for this column should submit a brief proposal / abstract that outlines the topic to be covered. Proposals should be no more than 250 words. Please submit your proposals to this Submission Form no later than October 30, 2026.
Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by November 30, 2026, with the submission deadline for our quarterly issues on the first of February, May, August, and November. Completed column submissions should be roughly 1500-2000 words.
Please contact column editor Katy Miller (katy.miller@ucf.edu) with any questions. Please forward this call to any colleagues who may be interested. Thank you!
