Category: Books

Call for Chapters: Librarianship and Genealogy: Trends, Issues, Case Studies

Librarianship and Genealogy: Trends, Issues, Case Studies

Book Publisher: McFarland

Carol Smallwood, co-editor. Library’s Role in Supporting Financial Literacy for Patrons (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); public library administrator, special, school librarian.

Vera Gubnitskaia, co-editor. Reference Librarian, Valencia College, Winter Park, Florida; co-editor, Library Outreach to Writers and Poets (forthcoming, McFarland).

One or two chapters sought from U.S. practicing academic, public, school, special librarians, LIS faculty, sharing practical know-how about what works for patrons with genealogy: proven, creative, case studies, how-to chapters based on experience to help colleagues with acquisitions, storage, digitization, innovative workshops, community outreach, grants, user instruction, latest resources.

One, two, or three authors per chapter; each chapter by the same author(s). Compensation: one complimentary copy per 3,000-4,000 word chapter accepted no matter how many co-authors or if one or two chapters: author discount on more.

Please e-mail titles of proposed chapters each described in a few sentences by February 28, 2017, brief bio on each author; place GENEALOLGY, YOUR LAST NAME on subject line: smallwood.carol@gmail.com

CFP: Book Chapters in Library Assessment

This proposal doesn’t specifically mention archives. Considering that many (most?) academic libraries have or are connected to special collections and archives departments/libraries, this is a good opportunity to infiltrate a library publication.

Call for Book Chapter Proposals in Library Assessment

We are seeking chapter proposals for a book on library assessment. Please consider sharing your work in this area to this effort.

Working Title – Academic Libraries and the Academy: Strategies and Approaches to Demonstrate Your Value, Impact, and Return on Investment

Publisher

This book will be published under the auspices of ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries). The anticipated publication date is early 2018.

Introduction

Assessment in academic libraries will play an increasingly crucial role in higher education. With the demand for greater transparency and accountability in funding for institutions, diminished budgets, and a shift to performance-based funding, academic libraries are examining and implementing new and creative approaches to demonstrate their inherent, immediate and long term value and impact to their institutions and stakeholders. Academic libraries of all shapes and sizes are understanding the need to establish their place and role in supporting institutional goals and objectives particularly related to student learning outcomes, academic student success measures, and faculty teaching and research productivity. To this end, many academic libraries are investing in efforts focused on implementing assessment initiatives that demonstrate their value and impact to their institutional stakeholders and community.

Objective

This book will present cases of how academic libraries are successfully implementing initiatives to demonstrate their worth and value to their institutional and community stakeholders. The cases will include proven strategies, lessons learned, effective approaches and practical applications successfully employed by academic staff and support professionals. The publication is intended to inform those at all levels of experience and stages of implementation— that is, those who are considering or just beginning to embark on this path, as well as others who have already taken the plunge and are looking to leverage or triangulate other strategies.

Target Audience

This publication will primarily target librarians, professional staff and administrators at all types of academic libraries, and we anticipate it will also be of interest to others across disciplines and industries who are engaged in similar assessment initiatives. It will present practical, easy-to-adopt strategies and approaches based on case studies, and will offer a breadth and depth of options to appeal to a wide range of readers at various stages of experience with demonstrating library value — from beginners to experts.

Proposed Book Sections

This book will be structured in four sections of case studies as described below:

Section 1: Seeding the Initiative. Explores the planning stages or “works-in-progress” in assessment that relate to the library’s impact and value. The results of these efforts may not be imminent. Nevertheless, these case studies demonstrate the potential value and the importance of the initial design and planning stage.

Section 2: Low-Hanging Fruit.  Provides stories of assessments that are easy to measure, short-term (less than one year), low cost, require few resources (staff or tools), and are easily replicable at similar academic libraries.

Example: ROI spreadsheets at the University of West Florida

Section 3: Reachable Fruit (with some effort).  Provides stories of assessments that may require more external and internal resources to measure, may take more than six months to one year to collect and analyze, feature medium costs and resources (i.e., incentives, equipment, tools), and may be replicable at other academic libraries that are similar in size or scope.

Example: Contingent valuation measures

Section 4: Hard-to-Reach Fruit. A range of assessment activities more difficult to measure and time and resource intensive, may require long-term data collection (e.g. longitudinal studies that require more than a year to collect a dataset or have measures that require more time, such as measuring a cohort’s graduation rates), and feature greater external partnerships, internal infrastructure, and/or additional resources to measure and analyze.

Examples: The Library Cube (which required the creation of a relational database), and Mixed-method Ethnographies, such as the ERIAL Project. (Ethnographic qualitative studies require more time to transcribe and analyze.)

Chapter proposals should focus on a topic that is related to one of the four sections listed above. Authors are also welcome to propose additional topics or sections that may be relevant to this publication.

Submission Procedure

Authors are invited to submit a chapter proposal as an email attachment in Word or PDF to academiclibrariesandtheacademy@gmail.com on or before Monday, January 09, 2017. The chapter proposal should be 300-500 words clearly explaining the intent and details of the proposed chapter as it relates to one of the four sections of the book described above. Authors will be notified by Monday, February 27, 2017 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Completed chapters are expected to be between 3,000-5,000 words, although shorter or longer chapters are negotiable. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by Tuesday, May 29, 2017.

Proposals should include:

  • Author name(s), institutional or organizational affiliation, job title/role
  • Brief author(s) bio
  • Proposed chapter title
  • A summary of the proposed chapter (300-500 words)

Proposed chapters should be based on unpublished work, unique to this publication and not submitted or intended to be simultaneously submitted elsewhere.

Important Dates

Book Chapter Proposals Submission Due: Monday, January 09, 2017
Authors notified: Monday, February 27, 2017
Abstracts/Full Chapters Due: Tuesday, May 29, 2017
Feedback and revisions to Authors: Summer, 2017
Final Revised Chapter Due: September, 2017
Copy-editing, production: Fall, 2017
Publication Date: Early 2018

Inquiries to: academiclibrariesandtheacademy@gmail.com

Editors

Marwin Britto, Ph.D., MLIS
University of Saskatchewan
Canada

Kirsten Kinsley, Ed.S., MLIS
Florida State University
USA

CFP: Two Publishing Opportunities with McFarland

Expanding Library Relevancy: Innovation to Meet Changing Needs

Book Publisher: McFarland

Vera Gubnitskaia, co-editor. Contributor, Bringing the Arts into the Library (ALA, 2014); co-editor, Continuing Education for Librarians (McFarland, 2013); academic librarian, indexer.

Carol Smallwood, co-editor, Library’s Role in Supporting Financial Literacy for Patrons (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); public library administrator, special, school librarian.

One or two chapters sought from U.S. practicing academic, public, school, special librarians, LIS faculty, on creative, practical how-to chapters, case studies, about libraries as learning centers, career and technology helpers, after-school programs, branding, and new ways to use libraries. It will fill a gap in the literature, share successes in broadening library service to fit changing patron needs.

No previously published, simultaneously submitted material. One, two, or three authors per chapter; each chapter by the same author(s) Compensation: one complimentary copy per 3,000-4,000 word chapter accepted no matter how many co-authors or if one or two chapters; author discount.

Please e-mail titles of proposed chapter(s) described in a few sentences by January 15, 2017, with brief bio on each author; place REL, Your Name on subject line: gubnitv11@gmail.com

Librarianship and Genealogy: Trends, Issues, Case Studies

Book Publisher: McFarland

Carol Smallwood, co-editor. Library’s Role in Supporting Financial Literacy for Patrons (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); public library administrator, special, school librarian.

Vera Gubnitskaia, co-editor. Reference Librarian, Valencia College, Winter Park, Florida; co-editor, Library Outreach to Writers and Poets (forthcoming, McFarland).

One or two chapters sought from U.S. practicing academic, public, school, special librarians, LIS faculty, sharing practical know-how about what works for patrons with genealogy: proven, creative, case studies, how-to chapters based on experience to help colleagues with acquisitions, storage, digitization, innovative workshops, community outreach, grants, user instruction, latest resources.

One, two, or three authors per chapter; each chapter by the same author(s). Compensation: one complimentary copy per 3,000-4,000 word chapter accepted no matter how many co-authors or if one or two chapters: author discount on more.

Please e-mail titles of proposed chapters each described in a few sentences by January 15, 2017, brief bio on each author; place GENEALOLGY, YOUR LAST NAME on subject line: smallwood.carol@gmail.com

SAA Book Publishing Survey Results

Last spring the Publications Board conducted a survey to assess members’ needs to strategize the future of publications. This survey assessed topics of interest, as well as how members want to receive and read books. The latest issue of Archival Outlook has an article describing the results of the survey. About 1,600 people responded, and the results are quite interesting. SAA book publications are important not just to advance the profession, but to help fund the organization. As the article states, “Books published by SAA help our members increase their sum of professional knowledge and to partake in a shared vision for archival practice.”

Ebooks have been a bit slow to take off in the profession, but is likely to grow over the next few years; more than half indicated they prefer print but close to half predicted they would access an ebook in the future. Personally, I like both. Ebooks allow me to search and sometimes I find it easier to use them when I’m writing. I can copy/paste quotes, and also don’t need to balance a book and my laptop while reclining comfortably on my couch. However, I still like seeing them on my bookshelf and find it easier to quick grab a book to look something up or hand it to an intern or staff member to read.

More than half indicated interest in a subscription model, which I’m intrigued by. I like the idea of being able to search across publications and easily access literature. For me it would serve a dual purpose: quickly finding multiple sources for answers, as well as the ability to read/review books prior to purchasing. And, of course, fewer books to check out from the library or order through interlibrary loan.

As a current book author, I constantly think about what information archivists need to grow in their jobs and how my book will be used. Reference, access and outreach ranked 5th out of the 10 topics assessed. However, my interpretation is that topics ranked higher – digital records/digitization, arrangement and description, preservation and conservation – all lead to access. While my book will not go in-depth about those areas, I discuss them in relation to reference and access.

I look forward to seeing how SAA publications evolve and develop based on this survey.

New/Recent Books

In my ongoing quest to know about every book and journal published (which I know won’t happen, but I’ll still dream), I came across a publisher I hadn’t heard of.

Mission Bell Media is library-focused, but they publish about topics that are potentially relevant to archivists working in libraries. They have a leadership series that is topic specific, including African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Sports, and a Glossary. I have not seen these in person, but they seem to be reference guides with multiple entries.

I’m more intrigued by their Peak Series, which has an forthcoming book about library academic publishing and writing.

If anyone has heard about or looked at/read them, let me know!

SAA Preservation Publication Award

from the SAA website:

Preserving Our Heritage: Perspectives from Antiquity to the Digital Age by Michele V. Cloonan (ALA Neal-Schuman/Facet) is the recipient of the Society of American Archivists’ Preservation Publication Award. Established in 1993, the award recognizes and acknowledges the author or editor of an outstanding published work related to archives preservation and, through this acknowledgment, encourages outstanding achievement by others.

Read the full announcement.

Also, ALA is offering $10 off if you use the code PHPA16 (limited time only).

SAA’s One Book, One Profession

In the past few years, SAA has done more to engage members in reading. Primarily, brown bag sessions at the conference to discuss a particular article or book. Now they’re taking it one step further with One Book, One Profession.

As a former Publications Board member, there’s always discussion on how to promote books and hear about members’ likes and needs. It’s a tough task, as we all have different ways of using literature: keeping up, enjoyment, teaching, professional development, etc. I know others in the past have tried to start archives book clubs, though I have no idea about their success.

I’m very interested in this program and how it is used and developed. You can read the whole outline, but here are a few highlights:

I encourage people to participate and if you do, please share your experience on this blog.

SAA Publishing Adopts Permalink

Catching up on my reading today,  I read Chris Prom and Anthony Cocciolo’s article in Archival Outlook “Permalink Service Adopted by SAA’s Book Publishing Program.”

I’m sure we’ve all been frustrated at times when we find a web link in an article or citation, click on it, and don’t find what we need. When I was editor of Provenance, I spent a lot of time double checking the links authors provided to make sure they worked, and searching for an updated link if they didn’t.

As a current SAA author, I’m pleased that I’ll be able to use this resource. As I write about reference and access, I constantly look at a variety of institutions’ websites for ideas and examples. I also read many books and articles that reference no longer existing websites or content. I use Zotero and sometimes (not always) remember to save a PDF of what I looked at, both for my reference and in case someone would ask me later. Now I’ll have a way to save those references for SAA to keep!

New Catalog from Rowman & Littlefield

As I noted last week, I am trying to keep up to date more with book releases. Rowman & Littlefield released a new catalog. The bulk of the books are for museums, but there’s some archives in there as well. Note that it’s not all new books, but some new and others released within the past couple of years. Happy browsing!

New/Recent Books

This blog is about publishing, but much of the focus so far has been about journals. That fills a gap, as the journals provide reviews about books. I don’t plan on turning this blog into one for book reviews, but I want to provide information about books.

As I’ve thought about this, I realize the challenges of keeping up with what books come out and when. Recently I subscribed to email lists and RSS feeds from a few publishers. Also, my own research for my book leads me to discover more. So here’s a few that I learned of recently. This is not an endorsement of the quality of contents, just for information. Mostly, it’s a way for me to try to keep up-to-date on what’s out there.

Some of these are strictly archives-focused, some are a bit peripheral. I haven’t decided exact parameters for what I’ll include going forward, so there will be overlap with journal reviews. Most are very recent, though some are a few years old. Not all are “scholarly” (the focus of this blog), but I also think it’s important to showcase the broader world of books related to archives. And if you know of others, please send them my way. I hope you find this helpful.

Fostering Family History Services: A Guide for Librarians, Archivists, and Volunteers. Rhonda L. Clark and Nicole Wedemeyer Miller. Libraries Unlimited, 2016.

Paper: Paging Through History. Mark Kurlansky. W.W. Norton & Co., forthcoming.

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts. Simon Garfield. Gotham/Penguin, 2012.

On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand Years History. Nichoals A. Basbanes. Vintage, 2014.

Paper: An Elegy. Ian Sansom. HarperCollins, 2015.

The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers. Tom Standage. Bloomsbury, 2014.

Sports History in the Digital Era. Edited by Gary Osmond and Murray G. Phillips. University of Illinois Press, 2015.

Practical Tips for Facilitating Research. Moira J. Bent. Facet Publishing, 2016.