Category: Call for Papers

JCLIS Special Issue – Strike Wave: Changing Tides of Labor Organizing in Libraries and Information Fields

CfP Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies (JCLIS) Special Issue

Strike Wave: Changing Tides of Labor Organizing in Libraries and Information Fields

Guest Editors: Dr. Britt Paris, Emma May

This special issue aims to engage in a conversation on how concerns of labor, precarity, and economic forces more broadly take shape within information ecosystems and library and information professions. In the midst of record inflation, an ongoing global pandemic, and increasingly precarious occupational conditions, labor organizing is on the rise in the United States, culminating in ongoing strike actions across industries. The global discourse around such organizing efforts has become more prominent, as social movements around reproductive justice, gender liberation, and protests challenging systemic racism and policing primed the broader public for thinking critically about power and oppression. In alignment with increased interest and participation in labor organizing across industries, knowledge sectors—such as libraries and higher education—are undergoing a shift towards increased unionization and labor organizing efforts. Through both deft online and offline outreach efforts, workers have highlighted how interconnected issues such as record inflation, stagnant wages, and the rampant defunding of public services reflect broader systems of power and inequality.

Rather than simply questioning how inequalities arise within information ecosystems, it is crucial that the library and information science literature critically examine the political economic conditions that create these inequalities in the first place. In recent labor organizing efforts in libraries and beyond, workers have made clear how struggles for economic, racial, gender, and disability justice are interconnected. Therefore, it has become increasingly important to explore intersectional analyses of information and information systems with attention to their economic dimensions—which include questions of labor.

We invite practitioners and researchers to send proposals for exploratory or other experimental and nontraditional works, short papers (no more than 4000 words), and traditional research papers that explore various perspectives on issues of labor as they relate to library and information studies. We greatly encourage contributions from library workers and from scholars outside the library and information studies field. Contributions may include, but are not limited to, topics such as:

– Unionization in libraries
– Worker-led and worker-centered organizing around technology such as generative AI
– Undercommons of librarianship, the importance of insurgency, and how we might build liberatory alternatives in the face of ongoing institutional oppression
– History of professionalization in libraries
– The intersectional dimensions of precarity within library work
– Information access in the face of contemporary informational capitalism (e.g., large-scale boycotts, alternative publishing avenues, regulating data collection and use)
– The use of online and offline media (e.g., memes, Discord, zines, etc.) to initiate and engage in conversations about issues relevant to library workers
– Political education within LIS curricula and professional development

Potential contributors should submit a 500-word abstract (which excludes references), and the contact information of the corresponding author to Dr. Britt Paris (britt.paris@rutgers.edu) and Emma May (emma.may@rutgers.edu).

If an abstract is selected, the author(s) will be invited to submit their work to the journal. It should be noted that the acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee publication in JCLIS, given that all manuscripts will go through a peer review process.

Tod Rutherford, “The Labor of Strikes: Unions, Workers, and the 2023 US Strike Wave,” Human Geography 17, no. 2 (July 1, 2024): 220–26, https://doi.org/10.1177/19427786241227171; Drew DeSilver, “2023 Saw Some of the Biggest, Hardest-Fought Labor Disputes in Recent Decades,” Pew Research Center (blog), January 4, 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/04/2023-saw-some-of-the-biggest-hardest-fought-labor-disputes-in-recent-decades/.

James B. Thelen, “A New Era of Union Activism in Higher Ed,” Inside Higher Ed, March 15, 2023, https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2023/03/15/new-era-union-activism-higher-ed-opinion; Diana Castillo and Kelly McElroy, “Solidarity Is for Librarians: Lessons from Organizing – In the Library with the Lead Pipe,” Solidarity Is for Librarians: Lessons from Organizing (blog), August 24, 2022, https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2022/solidarity/.

CFP: 2025 SAA Research Forum

MAY 2 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS FOR THE SAA RESEARCH FORUM 

On behalf of the 2025 Research Forum Committee, we invite you to submit abstracts (of 300 words or fewer) for either 10-minute platform presentations or 5-minute lightning talks. Topics may address research on, or innovations in, any aspect of archives practice or records management in government, corporate, academic, scientific, or other settings. 

The 2025 Research Forum will be conducted as two Zoom-based virtual sessions, each four hours long, on July 23 from 12:00 – 4:00 pm CT and July 30, 12:00 – 4:00 pm CT. 

The 2025 Research Forum will be made up of 10-minute platform presentations and 5-minute lightning talks, extended from 3 minutes. A limited number of presentations will be accepted to allow for longer presentation times, extended Q&A periods, and opportunities for discussion between attendees. An abstract submission rubric will be used by the Committee to evaluate submissions. The 2025 Research Forum webpage provides additional information about the schedule and links to past Forum proceedings.

We invite presentations on research results that may have emerged since the 2024 Joint Annual Meeting Call for Proposals deadline, as well as reports on research completed within the past three years that are relevant and valuable for discussion as defined by the rubric. On the submission form, please indicate whether you intend a platform presentation or a lightning talk. See the full call here: https://www2.archivists.org/am2025/research-forum-2025. 

The Research Forum Committee and CORDA encourage submissions on a range of topics, which may include:

  • Global challenges and their implications for archives and archivists, such as climate change, armed conflicts, environmental disaster, and human rights; 
  • Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (EDISJ) as a core value for archives and archivists; 
  • Collaborating across domains-archives, libraries, galleries, and museums; 
  • Repository-level data: how archives measure their output, outcomes, and activities over time;
  • Centering users in the design of archival systems for discovery; and/or, 
  • Building audiences to increase the impact of archives on society. 

These themes can be found in the SAA Research and Innovation Roadmap (v1.4). 

Abstracts will be evaluated by the 2025 Research Forum Committee convened by Chris Marino (Stanford University) and Emily Lapworth (Kennedy Presidential Library).

Deadline for submission of abstracts: May 2, 2025. You will be notified of the Committee’s decision by June 2, 2025.

Proposals should be submitted here.

Call For Chapter Proposals: Student Workers in Academic Libraries (ACRL Publication)

The editors of book project Student Workers in Academic Libraries, a forthcoming title from ACRL, invite library professionals from all levels – library student workers, library staff, librarians, and administration alike – to share their work and submit chapter proposals for the volume. 

Several years out from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a renewed focus on mentorship, career readiness, pedagogical approaches, and empathy-forward leading when it comes to higher education and student employment in academic libraries. Student workers don’t fit a mold; they are a diverse group ranging from first generation students to student athletes to parents. Student workers are the heart of the library and integral to its operations. Student Workers in Academic Libraries serves as a community space to showcase the whole student worker experience and help readers create high-impact work experiences. 

We invite chapter proposals that can take a variety of forms: case studies, best practices, pedagogical theory, or novel and unique program models. Chapters are strongly encouraged to include practical sample documentation for readers to modify and adapt such as job descriptions, applications and interview questions, contracts, orientation and training plans, budget templates, as well as reflections from current or recent library student workers.  

Potential topics include, but are not limited to: 

  • Developing job descriptions, recruiting, and hiring  
  • Orientation and training 
  • Project management and creating meaningful work for student employees 
  • Budgeting for student worker programs including federal work-study and non-work-study students 
  • Communicating expectations, performance evaluations, coaching, and feedback 
  • Incorporating transferrable professional skills and career-readiness 
  • Scaffolded work experience 
  • A mentorship approach to supervision of student workers  
  • Leadership philosophy as a supervisor  
  • Connecting your student worker program to your institution’s goals 
  • Program models such as student supervisor programs, graduate student programs, or internships 
  • Case studies on student workers in different academic library departments such as: Reference, Access or Public Services, Special Collections, Technical Services, Archives 
  • Equity and accessibility in the workplace in the context of library student workers 
  • Working with and within labor unions 

Timeline: 

  • Chapter proposals due April 1, 2025 
  • Notifications sent by May 1, 2025 
  • Final chapters submitted July 11, 2025 
  • Feedback and revisions September and October 2025 

Chapter proposals should include the names of all contributing authors, a contact email for the main author, a working title, 3-5 keywords describing your proposed topic, a description of your proposed chapter that does not exceed 500 words, and a list of potential sample documents your chapter would include. 

In the proposal review process, we will prioritize practical applications of proposals that focus on critical perspectives such as (but not limited to): gender and sexuality theory, critical race and ethnicity studies, disability studies, neurodiversity, decolonization, and other perspectives and experiences underrepresented in both libraries and academia. We also encourage those new to publishing to submit. 

Chapters should be no more than 5,000 words in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced, and citations in Chicago Manual of Style notes and bibliography. 

If you are interested in submitting a chapter proposal, please fill out the Microsoft Form by April 1, 2025.  

Note: the editors of this book believe in compassion-based care, mentorship, and communication at all levels. We understand the stress and anxiety involved in submitting items for review and publication, and strive to ensure transparency, respect, and support to all who submit.

For any questions, please contact Maria Planansky, Mechele Romanchock, and Rai Yiannakos at studentworkersinlibraries@gmail.com.  

Call for Contributions to Notes from the Field: Spring 2025

Notes from the Field, a publication of the TPS Collective, is accepting submissions about teaching and working with primary sources for three series of peer-reviewed blog posts: “Paleography,” “Teaching with Born-Digital Materials,” and “Artificial Intelligence.”

These series were crowdsourced during the 2024 Notes from the Field TPS Fest session. Grounded in issues your colleagues in the field are exploring, this call is intended to highlight a broad range of voices from all sectors of the TPS community. Please see the calls below for more information.

Series One: Paleography

What tools, lesson plans, and/or activities surrounding teaching paleography and the reading of handwriting do you use? By leaving this call intentionally broad, we look forward to learning about a wide range of your ideas regardless of era (Medieval, Victorian, etc.), language (English, German, non-European languages, etc.), or audience receiving the instruction (K-12, graduate, general public, etc.). 

Series Two: Teaching with Born-Digital Materials

We want to hear about the ways you teach with born-digital materials. Do you introduce them in tandem with analog materials? How do you incorporate born-digital materials into sessions, and what instructional contexts do you use them in? Does teaching with born-digital materials inspires new sorts of collaboration with your colleagues?

Series Three: Artificial Intelligence

In this series, we are interested in the ways emerging AI tools are impacting your instruction experience. Are you incorporating AI into your lesson plans? Are students relying on generative AI to complete assignments? Are you working with faculty partners to differently shape instructional experiences in response to AI? Is it making things easier or more difficult?

Contributions should be 1000-1200 words and are subject to Notes from the Field’s peer review process.

Posts will be published on a rolling basis beginning in April 2025. Full submission information is available in the Notes from the Field author and peer review guidelines.

Any questions, expressions of interest, or submissions can be sent to the Notes from the Field Lead Editor, Anastasia Armendariz, at ajarm@uci.edu.

CFP: Printing History Themed Issue: Community Publishing

Printing History is pleased to announce an issue highlighting community printing and publishing practices. We invite author submissions that approach print history expansively, with a focus on small press, DIY, ephemeral, fringe, and community-focused materials that challenge mainstream notions of the print historical record. We particularly welcome submissions spotlighting the printing practices of marginalized communities. 

We invite interested researchers and practitioners to share work engaging in the following topics:

  • Print as a means of collective organizing and communication
  • Print projects that articulate and affirm identity
  • Zines, artists’ books, small/underground/alternative press
  • Print material that challenges dominant historical narratives 
  • Activist ephemera and resource guides
  • Underrepresented, regional, and vernacular production and practice
  • Representations of non-dominant knowledge systems
  • Community-engaged creative and professional practice
  • Collaborative and nonhierarchical print production
  • Queer print cultures
  • Printing and publishing practices of BIPOC artists and communities
  • Critical bibliography

In general, Printing History follows the Chicago Manual of Style. An APHA style guide and further information for contributors can be downloaded here.

Submissions should be emailed to editor@printinghistory.org. If you have questions about this issue, the process, or the journal in general, do not hesitate to write. 

Submission deadline: March 31, 2025

Call for Chapter Proposals and Peer Reviewers: Sustainability Leadership in Libraries and Archives Book

Overview

This call for proposals is for a peer-reviewed, edited book on sustainability leadership in libraries and archives with an international focus. Although more and more books about sustainability are being written for the library science field, none have specifically focused on leadership for sustainability. I am looking for chapters from all levels of librarians and archivists, not just those formally occupying positions of authority. This book is being proposed for publication by Routledge as part of their Critical Issues in Library and Information Sciences and Services series.

This book explicitly aims to explain leadership that challenges the status quo of libraries and archives, focusing on transformative leadership in sustainability. It features practices, ideas, theories, and frameworks replicable in libraries and archives as they stand right now and those that help them move into the future, using sustainability as a framework.

What is Sustainability?

There are many different frameworks people use to understand sustainability. Two of the most popular and well-known are the “three-legged stool” framework of environment, economy, and equity, which stems from the “Our Common Future” report and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. There are, however, many different sustainability frameworks in use in libraries, education, and other fields that may be appropriate for a chapter. Because there are many approaches to understanding and implementing sustainability, there’s not one specific framework authors are required to use for their chapter proposal. Instead, a description of the chosen sustainability framework should be an essential part of the chapter. In this way, this book aims to highlight multiple perspectives on sustainability by showing how libraries and archives define and implement them.

Book Structure

Proposals for chapters in the book should be written for one of the following sections:

  • sustainability leadership from within
  • sustainability leadership collaborations
  • sustainability leadership in the community
  • sustainability leadership strategies
  • sustainability leadership and stakeholder relationships

Chapters can focus on real situations from authors’ daily practice or on conceptual or theoretical work. Final chapters should be 5,000–8,000 words and use APA 7th ed. style.

Submitting a Proposal

Proposals are being accepted via Google Forms. Please submit an abstract no longer than 300 words, double-spaced. Please make sure you note specifically what sustainability framework your chapter will use. Include the title of the proposed submission, name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation, contact information with email address(es), and a short biography of the author(s).

Authors whose proposals are accepted will receive detailed chapter guidelines. Chapters will be double-blind and peer-reviewed by volunteer peer-reviewers other than the editor.

Proposals can be https://forms.gle/Vhobv35Rh6NNNBk67. Click or tap if you trust this link.” data-auth=”Verified” data-linkindex=”0″ rel=”noopener”>submitted here.

If you would like to be a peer-reviewer for this book, please https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeK26zwW-BZMM2GWBDOwTDV7EQ5c4dJQRMYTlwq2e3UQzUnqg/viewform?usp=sharing. Click or tap if you trust this link.” data-auth=”Verified” data-linkindex=”1″ rel=”noopener”>fill out this information.

Questions about the book can be directed to Erin Renee Wahl at ewahl@nmsu.edu.

Anticipated Timeline

  • Collecting chapter proposals January–February 2025
  • Responses to proposals anticipated by the end of March 2025
  • Full chapters due by May of 2025
  • Chapters will be sent to peer reviewers and returned to the editor by the end of July 2025
  • Final chapters (with revisions, etc.) by the end of 2025/beginning of 2026
  • Completed book to the publisher no later than May 2026

Link to the submissions call on the series editors’ website.

Call for Chapter Proposals: Global Frameworks, Local Realities: Rethinking International Heritage Frameworks

Overview and Aim of the Volume

This forthcoming volume in the Heritage Studies series critically examines how global heritage governance frameworks, such as the World Heritage Convention (WHC) and its Operational Guidelines (OG), intersect with the diverse realities of local contexts and practices. Rooted in European traditions that historically emphasized material aspects of heritage, these frameworks have evolved to reflect global contributions and diverse perspectives, such as those outlined in the Nara Document on Authenticity.

Despite this evolution, significant challenges persist in aligning international frameworks with the lived realities of local communities, cultural practices, and heritage sites. These challenges include systemic biases, power imbalances, and tensions arising from the interplay of global governance mechanisms and local realities. The volume seeks to address these issues by exploring how global heritage frameworks can become more inclusive and equitable while embracing the complexity and diversity of heritage.

In addition to critique, this volume invites contributors to propose innovative, practical recommendations for reform. Drawing on diverse local and national contexts, authors are encouraged to explore opportunities for improving representation, governance, and management within international heritage frameworks. The ultimate goal is to offer a forward-looking roadmap for reshaping heritage policy and practice to ensure a more inclusive future.

Target Themes

We welcome both theoretical perspectives and case studies that illuminate the interplay of global governance and local realities in heritage conservation. Contributions should align with the volume’s focus on inclusivity, diversity, and evolving definitions of heritage. Key themes include but are not limited to:

  1. The Evolution of the WHC and OG
    • Historical analysis of the WHC’s origins and its progress toward inclusivity.
    • Reviews and comparative analyses of regional/national heritage conventions and their integration into international frameworks.
  2. Diversity in Heritage Definitions and Governance
    • Case studies on local heritage practices, especially those rooted in indigenous, intangible, or hybrid traditions.
    • Proposals for under-represented heritage sites and practices within global frameworks.
  3. Barriers to Inclusivity in Global Heritage Frameworks
    • Examination of systemic biases, such as Eurocentrism, geopolitical inequities, and structural challenges.
    • Exploration of decolonial perspectives and challenges.
  4. Decolonizing Heritage Management Systems
    • Application of postcolonial and decolonial theories to reform global frameworks like the WHC.
    • Success stories of decolonized policies that can inform international reform.
  5. Tensions Between Global and Local Heritage Practices
    • Analysis of how global frameworks are adapted, contested, or resisted in specific local contexts.
  6. Innovative Pathways for Reform
    • Case studies of community-led approaches and integration of alternative knowledge systems.
    • Proposals for redefining international guidelines and practices to enhance inclusivity and equity.
    • Exploration of technological tools to improve access and equity in heritage management.

Potential Topics for Exploration

Submissions may focus on, but are not limited to:

  • Sacred and Indigenous Heritage Sites: Challenges faced by indigenous communities in seeking recognition.
  • Environmental and Cultural Landscapes: Integrating spiritual and ecological values into governance frameworks.
  • Intangible Cultural Heritage: Safeguarding intangible practices while addressing tensions in institutional contexts.
  • Museums and Decolonizing Heritage: Reshaping narratives and advancing sustainability through community engagement.
  • Alternative frameworks that integrate tangible and intangible heritage in interconnected ways.

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts of 500 words are due by 30.01.2025, outlining the research aim, methodology, and anticipated contribution to the volume. Full papers (approx. 4,000–6,000 words) will be due by first week of May of 2025. Submissions should be emailed to globalframeworkslocalrealities@gmail.com with the subject line: “Global Frameworks, Local Realities: Rethinking International Heritage Frameworks Submission.”

This volume will be published by Springer Nature. For inquiries or further details, please contact globalframeworkslocalrealities@gmail.com.

Contact Information

Global Frameworks & Local Realities Team (c/o Kavita Peterson)

Contact Email

globalframeworkslocalrealities@gmail.com

Call for Chapters: Libraries and the Futures of the Humanities

The editors of a book project, Libraries and the Futures of the Humanities, call for chapter proposals for a volume that Rowman & Littlefield has invited us to submit, focused on how libraries can play a role in reimagining the humanities during a time of crisis and opportunity. 

We invite proposals for chapters in five sections, focusing primarily on academic libraries and archives:

  1. Framing the Question: discussions on the history and concept of the humanities in relation to libraries
  2. Across the Disciplines: examples of programs and practices that support cross-disciplinary teaching and scholarship (for example, humanities in STEM, business, and medical disciplines)
  3. Beyond the University: initiatives that connect humanistic learning, research, and creativity to communities outside the university, from the local to the global
  4. Civic Learning: approaches that apply humanistic knowledge and skills to empower learners to participate in creative democratic change
  5. Machines and Meaning: projects that make use of AI, digital humanities, or maker technologies to open up innovative directions and possibilities in the humanities 

The deadline for chapter proposals is Saturday, February 1, 2025.

For full details about this volume and to access the submission form please visit:  

Libraries and the Futures of the Humanities

CFP: Libraries, Archives and Museums in Oceania

Special Issue Call for Papers

‘Libraries, Archives and Museums in Oceania’

Guest Edited by Joshua Bell, Cristela Garcia-Spitz and Halena Kapuni-Reynolds

Though shaped by their colonial legacies and postcolonial presents, libraries, archives and museums can also be spaces of hope, healing and collective reimagining. These institutions and their staff steward various media formats (audiovisual objects and texts), giving presence to the many pasts of Oceania, and must reckon with Indigenous interventions that reconfigure these collections as familial legacies, belongings and ancestors. Collaborative work with Indigenous communities have also helped open these institutions and their collections to new possibilities, resulting in richer understandings about activating belongings to nurture and uplift source and descendant communities and returning belongings and ancestors through legal and ethical means. Simultaneously, Indigenous communities continue creating their own cultural centres, blurring distinctions between libraries, archives and museums to serve the needs of their respective communities.

While these projects and trends are in dialogue with global practices, they are also distinctly local and heterogeneous within Oceania. How are these projects in and around libraries, archives and museums transforming these institutions and their collections? How are Indigenous epistemologies helping to challenge the colonial legacies of these institutions? What new collaborative practices are emerging, which help to recentre the relations that may have otherwise been dormant? What lessons for institutions outside of Oceania can be taken from these engagements?

The Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies invites contributions that offer new insights into library, archive and museum practice in and about Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific, and associated collections from the region that may be housed outside of Oceania. Papers might address the following issues:

  • Indigenizing and decolonizing strategies for curatorial practice, exhibition design, collection development and management
  • community-based programming and research
  • repatriation and ethical returns
  • rematriation initiatives
  • conservation/preservation
  • digitizing collections and ethical and inclusive metadata practices
  • digital scholarship and pedagogy
  • emerging technologies and their impact on research
  • evolving roles, education/mentoring the next generation of museum/archive professionals

We are particularly interested in case studies highlighting lesser-known libraries, archives and museums in or of the Pacific.

The Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies is a double-blind refereed journal. Articles, accompanied by a short biography, abstract and keywords, must be between 5000 and 8000 words, including notes and references, and must be formatted according to the journal style guide (https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/2243/house-style-guide-6th-edition.pdf).

Original interviews (for example, with an artist, curator, librarian or archivist), research reports, review essays and exhibition reviews, between 1500 and 4000 words, are also welcome.

Deadline for submissions is 14 April 2025. All article submissions will be subject to peer review. If accepted for publication, articles will be published in vol. 13, no. 2, December 2025. Please submit complete articles for consideration to Heather Waldroup at waldrouphl@appstate.edu.

CFP: Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association Conference

Conference Introduction/Description: 

The Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association is convening a conference to spur research, and interest in Spaniards who emigrated to Hawai‘i, and subsequently to California. The conference will be held at the University of California Davis on September 5-7, 2025. Events will include plenary and keynote speakers, academic panels, book talks, cultural performances, and social opportunities for descendant families to connect. Organizers are from the University of Málaga, University of Hawai‘i  at Manoa, UC Davis and California State University Monterey Bay.

Spanish emigration to Hawai‘i occurred from 1907-1913, as 8,000 Spaniards from Andalucia, Extremadura and other regions answered the call for laborers in Hawai‘i sugar cane plantations. Working under indentured contracts, conditions on the island plantations were harsh. Most families left once their work agreements expired, and moved to northern California, forming Spanish enclaves. In organizing the conference, the Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association seeks to encourage further research in this relatively unrecognized immigrant group. This significant wave of migration to the Hawaiian Islands links complex social, economic and cultural elements between Spain, Hawai‘i and California in the 20th Century.. 

We invite submissions from historians, genealogists, oral historians, academic and institutional members, students, descendant groups, Spanish and/or Portuguese cultural clubs and organizations, artists, performers and authors. Submissions for individual presentations, panels, roundtable discussions, history or art exhibits and performances will be considered. A limited number of small travel stipends may be available. 

Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association Executive Board

Beverly Baker, President

Rick Prusso, Vice President

Kristen Ana La Follette, Secretary

Amber Pato McQuinn, Webmaster

Shyrah Heinze, Liaison to Club Universo Extremeño & Aloha Spaniards

Submission Guidelines

Submit the following via Google Form:

Presentation Title

Type of Proposal 

Abstract (250-300 Words)

Presenter Bio (250-500 Words)

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: January 24

Decision Date: February 7

Link to Submission Site