• 14 January 2017, 19:41

Theme:

"Engaged Communities: Transforming the Librarian Role"

The Library Theory & Research (LTR) Section in collaboration with the New Professionals (NP) Special Interest Group are pleased to invite submissions for its forthcoming open session at the World Library & Information Congress, 19 – 25 August 2017, Wroclaw, Poland

The session aims to bring together research and practice that illustrates how the library profession has transformed and is transforming to meet and/or challenge change, be it technological, societal, political, economic or a combination of these.

Papers that explore how research has investigated transformation of the librarian role as well as transformation of this role in practice are encouraged. Among the many perspectives possible, papers might consider new alliances and collaborations, the shifting emphasis from collecting to educating, convergence with other professions, and transformation in response to external forces. Submissions of papers that discuss initiatives and events designed to support the transformation of the librarian role are also welcome.

Possible themes to guide submissions are:

• Profession theory
• Transformation in theory
• Challenging change/fear of change
• Impacts of political or economic fluctuations
• Impacts of big data and data analytics
• New areas of responsibility in supporting research data curation/management
• Transformation leading to new collaborations, interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary alliances
• Transformation from information providers to educators
• New areas of research and services to address social and political change
• Convergence of professional roles in the libraries, archives, and museum communities (LAM)
• Transformative, alternative and innovative practices
• The contribution of theory and research to transformation

Papers will be allocated 20 minutes (including time for questions).

Important Dates

1 March 2017 Submission of Abstracts
31 March 2017 Decision notification
1 June 2017 Final papers due

Submission guidelines

Proposals must be submitted in electronic format and contain:

• Title of paper
• Summary/abstract of paper (300 words maximum)
• Speaker’s name, address, email, telephone, professional affiliation and a short biographical description (of no more than 50 words).

Proposals will be evaluated by the programme committee, comprising representatives from the LTR Section and NP SIG.

Submissions should be sent to:

Heidi Kristin Olsen
Email: heidi-kristin.olsen@hioa.no no later than 1 March 2017

Submissions

Papers
Presenters will be expected to submit final versions of their papers (consisting of no more than 5000 words) by 1 June 2017. Papers should be in English or in one of the official IFLA languages with an English translation attached.

The language of the session will be English.

For more information please contact:

Heidi Kristin Olsen
Email: heidi-kristin.olsen@hioa.no

Please note

At least one of the paper’s authors must be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the program in Wrocław, Poland. Abstracts should only be submitted with the understanding that the expenses of attending the conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.

All papers that are presented at the WLIC 2017 will be made available online via the IFLA Library under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Authors’ Permission Form.

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation letter can be issued to authors.

Congress Participation Grants

List of opportunities for support is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.