CFP: CJAL Special Issue: Academic Libraries and the Irrational (Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship) @CjalRcbu

This is for academic libraries, but academic archivists can definitely relate to the irrational and absurd found within academia.

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This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship (CJAL/Rcbu) will consider whether the seemingly logical pursuit of innovation, accountability, and efficiency puts academic libraries at risk of becoming irrational or even absurd, that is, marked by contradiction and incoherence, ultimately alienating library workers and their publics.

Academic libraries are bureaucratic and technocratic institutions: highly structured, rule-bound, and rationalized. In the current climate of austerity in higher education, which asks academic libraries to demonstrate their value to their host institutions by doing more with less, rationalization is a process that would appear to serve academic libraries well. However, as Max Weber (1968) argues, rationalization, when carried to an extreme, can become a form of irrationality, rendering bureaucracies inefficient, maladaptive, and dehumanizing. Drawing on this idea, David Graeber (2015) goes so far as to claim that bureaucracy is a form of existential violence that infringes upon human imagination and creativity.

As a growing number of LIS scholars have noted, this irrationality is evident in managerialism, McDonaldization, the cult of busyness, and discourses of the future and innovation in academic libraries, all of which serve to create a growing chasm between our stated values and our practices, ultimately alienating library workers. We seek articles and creative works that help us to see the irrational in the seemingly rational, to recognize the absurd in the commonsensical, and refocus our labour on those practices which more meaningfully support our constituents and communities.

Possible topics might include: 

  • Linguistic absurdities (e.g. doublespeak, buzz words, rhetorical obfuscations)
  • Bureaucracy/irrationality and professional practice (e.g. metrics, reporting requirements)
  • Bureaucratic structures/processes, and the irrational/absurd (e.g. managerialism, technocratic restructuring, hierarchies)
  • The fetishization of leadership
  • The cult of innovation and the future

Call for Proposals

Authors interested in participating are asked to submit a 750-1000 word proposal as an attachment by December 20th, 2019 by email to irrationaleditors@gmail.com. CJAL (Rcbu) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal published by the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL). Articles submitted for review must fit the journal’s Focus and Scope. The journal is bilingual (Eng/Fr); proposals may be submitted in both languages.

This will be a peer-reviewed issue of CJAL (Rcbu). However we recognize the limits of traditional scholarly research in engaging the absurd and the irrational, and as such,  photo essays and/or creative works are also welcome. Authors interested in submitting a creative work are asked to contact the editors at irrationaleditors@gmail.com with a description of their project. If you have questions about themes or formats not listed here that you would like to discuss, please contact the editors: Karen Nicholson, Jane Schmidt and/or Lisa Sloniowski at irrationaleditors@gmail.com.

Proposal acceptances will be confirmed by January 20, 2020. Completed papers are due April 15, 2020. Anticipated publication date for the issue is December 15, 2020.

Guest Editors

Karen Nicholson is Manager, Information Literacy at the University of Guelph. She holds a PhD (LIS) from Western University. Her research focuses on academic libraries, critical librarianship, information literacy, time/space, and higher education.

Jane Schmidt is a liaison librarian at Ryerson University Library. Her research interests include community-led service, literary philanthropy and collection development.

Lisa Sloniowski works at York University as a teaching and liaison librarian in the Scott Library, and as an associate faculty member in the Graduate Program in English. Her research focuses on the archival function of academic libraries, affective labour, and the role of librarians in knowledge production.

References

Weber, Max. 1968. Economy and society. New York: Bedminster Press.

Graeber, David. 2015. The utopia of rules: On technology, stupidity, and the secret joys of bureaucracy. Melville House Publishing.

The John Dickinson Writings Project Seeks A Full-Time Managing Editor

The John Dickinson Writings Project (JDP), under the auspices of the Center for Digital Editing (CDE) at the University of Virginia, seeks a full-time Managing Editor.

The goal of the Project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historic Publications and Records Commission, and private donors, is to assemble the entire corpus of Dickinson’s political works into an estimated six printed volumes, a college-level course reader, and a Web-based digital version. John Dickinson contributed more writings to the American Founding than any other figure. He is best known for his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767-68), the first resounding and successful call for colonial unity to resist British oppression.

The Managing Editor will complete the final stages of preparation of Volumes Three (1764–1766) and Four (1767–1769) and prepare Volume Five (1770–1775) of The Complete Writings and Selected Correspondence of John Dickinson. Working under the supervision of Jane Calvert (JDP) and Jennifer Stertzer (CDE) and in concert with other JDP/CDE staff in Charlottesville, Va., the Managing Editor will engage in the following activities: transcribing and proofreading manuscripts; annotation research (including travel to archives) and writing; formatting content in MS Word and Adobe Acrobat; basic work in Drupal. The Managing Editor will take the lead on these tasks and establish and manage the workflow of other experienced and new JDP team members.

This position is located in Charlottesville, VA and is a 2-year commitment with an expected start date no later than January 2, 2020.

Required Qualifications: At least a master’s degree in early American history or related field; experience in scholarly publication or documentary editing; paleographic skills in 18th century handwriting; team-building/managerial skills; ability to solve problems in a digital environment; ability to work independently and collaboratively; strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to meet strict production deadlines; meticulous attention to detail, including mastering complicated editorial protocols; commitment to the highest standard of scholarly work.

Preferred Qualifications: PhD in Revolutionary Era American history or related field; expertise in 18th century American or British legal and/or political texts; previous work with a Founder’s papers project or similar; experience in team management; familiarity with Drupal; reading knowledge of Latin and/or French.

The job posting can be found at https://uva.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UVAJobs/job/Charlottesville-VA/Managing-Editor–The-John-Dickinson-Writings-Project_R0011286. For questions about the position, please contact Jennifer Stertzer, at jes7z@virginia.edu or Jane Calvert at jane.calvert@uky.edu

Call for Proposals for The Handbook of Archival Practice

This is your opportunity to contribute to the development of an indispensable guide designed to meet the demands of records and archival professionals increasingly tasked with responsibility for hybrid materials: The Handbook of Archival Practice.

This work—written by experienced practitioners for current and aspiring practitioners—will cover all aspects of contemporary archival practice from records creation control through long-term preservation. Relevant archives- and records-related practices such as digital signatures, social media archiving, content management systems, and cybersecurity measures will be included.

This is NOT a dictionary, glossary, nor encyclopedia. It is a Handbook divided into ten sections—each with multiple topics not only describing activities (such as appraisal, digitization, reference services) but also providing examples of how they are or might be applied in the workplace. Checklists, images, graphics, and other materials are solicited and will be considered for inclusion. The institution at which the practices took place may remain anonymous if desired.

A website, The Handbook of Archival Practice, at https://thapproject.org/ provides additional information about the project, the editor, the distinguished members of the advisory board, and the proposal submission process (with a link to the proposal submission form).

The Survey Monkey submission form is now open to accept your proposals at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TheHandbookofArchivalPractice. It will remain open throughout the project, which will be submitted to the editor by January 31, 2021.  Successful proposals will be accepted as received and approved for inclusion.  Those who submit early have the best chance of being accepted to write about the topic of their choice.

The editorial advisory board will assist in reviewing the proposals, but the final decisions remain with the editor.

As a thank you, each contributor, regardless of the length or number of entries, will be provided by the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield, with one hard copy of the finished publication, as well as the opportunity to purchase additional copies at 50% off. Each contributor will also be credited in the Handbook.

Questions should be directed to the editor, Dr. Patricia C. Franks, at patricia.franks@sjsu.edu

 

 

 

 

 

Call for Proposals: Digital Initiatives Symposium 2020

The Digital Initiatives Symposium at the University of San Diego is accepting proposals for its full day conference on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. We welcome proposals from a wide variety of organizations, including colleges and universities of all sizes, community colleges, public libraries, special libraries, museums, and other cultural memory institutions.

Proposals should fall into one of two formats:

  • Concurrent sessions: 45 minutes (please allow 10-15 minutes for Q&A); 1-2 speakers.

  • Lightning talks: 10 minutes; limited to one speaker

This year, we are especially interested in proposals from international applicants and/or proposals with international perspectives. We will be welcoming keynote speakers Reggie Raju (University of Cape Town, South Africa) and Arianna Becerril-Garcia (Redalyc).

Other relevant topics include:

  • social justice and open access

  • the future of open access

  • Plan S

  • data management and sharing; open data

  • Linked data

  • open educational resources

  • curation of digital collections

  • digital initiatives in instruction and undergraduate research

  • roles for deans and directors in digital and institutional repository initiatives

  • roles for disciplinary faculty in digital and institutional repository initiatives

  • diverse repository platforms and functions

  • digital humanities

  • copyright, licensing, and privacy issues

  • collaboration: interdisciplinary initiatives and collaboration within and between campuses

  • scholarly communication

  • technical applications related to platforms or tools

  • web archiving

  • web annotation

Submit your proposal at digital.sandiego.edu/symposium (Click on “Submit Proposal” on the left sidebar.) Please note:

  • In the interest of providing a rich, face-to-face experience for attendees, virtual / remote presentations and lightning talks will not be accepted.

  • All submissions will be evaluated based on the relevance of the topic and potential to advance thinking about digital initiatives, institutional repositories, and scholarly communication. Acceptance is competitive.

  • Registration fees will be waived for accepted presenters.

Proposal deadline: Friday, Nov. 22, 2019

New SAA e-publications

New Digital Books Available
Now you can read SAA’s newest books in digital form! Check out:

  • Archival Values: Essays in Honor of Mark A. Greene EPUB | PDF
  • Leading and Managing Archives and Manuscripts Programs EPUB | PDF
  • Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts EPUB | PDF
  • Advocacy and Awareness for Archivists EPUB | PDF

In addition, you can now get epub editions of the following titles:

CFP: 2020 Supporting Undergraduate Research Conference

Call for Proposals

The Supporting Undergraduate Research Conference planning team invites faculty, students, librarians, instructional technologists, and others interested in supporting student research to submit a session proposal for the conference.

Potential themes include:

  • Improving student research practices
  • Strategies for making research more prominent in the curriculum
  • Research support needs specific to sophomores and juniors
  • Outreach to and/or working with students from underrepresented groups
  • Data intensive research projects
  • Reproducible research across the curriculum
  • Working with primary sources
  • Designing and supporting digital scholarship projects in courses
  • Collaboration on campus and beyond
  • Engagement with the broader scholarly community

We welcome proposals that engage with these themes or other aspects of collaborative undergraduate research support, and are particularly eager to see proposals from teams that include students, faculty, and staff.

Submit session proposals by November 4, 2019.

CFP: Journal of Archival Organization, Special Issue on Radio Preservation

From the federal to the state and local levels, recent years have witnessed growing interest in radio preservation among archival organizations across the United States. This issue of the Journal of Archival Organization seeks to capture the present state and future of radio preservation, documenting key issues, projects, strategies, and initiatives pursued by contemporary archivists and preservation groups working within this rapidly expanding area of archival practice. What possibilities do new archiving technologies afford, and what new systems and workflows have developed around them? What challenges or opportunities do current laws present for effective preservation and access? What financial and administrative obstacles do preservationists face, and what strategies have they pursued in the face of these challenges? How have preservation workers sought to expand traditional forms of radio content and diversify the digital record? Who does the work of radio preservation, what measures are being taken to prepare professionals and other relevant groups to perform these duties?

For consideration, please email inquiries and short proposals to guest editor Shawn VanCour at svancour@ucla.edu, no later than October 31st.

Contributions should consist of 15-20 page essays that position themselves in relation to relevant scholarship and professional publications in archival studies, library studies, critical data studies, digital humanities, media studies, and other cognate fields. Articles selected for inclusion must be submitted by January 13, 2020 and will be published in the journal’s Spring 2020 issue.

Final submissions should conform to professional academic publishing conventions and must clear the journal’s double-blind review process for successful publication

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Legal issues impacting preservation and access (changes in copyright law, strategies governing deposit agreements, repatriation issues, digital distribution methods)
  • Innovations in preservation methods (new technologies for digitization or storage of radio materials, new conservation strategies, designing new preservation workflows)
  • Metadata management (automated transcription technologies, competing content management systems, challenges and strategies of radio description)
  • Institutional factors (advocacy work for radio preservation within archival organizations, reevaluation of best practices, shifting institutional priorities)
  • Education and outreach (use of radio materials in the classroom, public screenings and community engagement, preservation training, advocacy for archival professionals and radio materials within collecting institutions)
  • Diversifying the digital record (activist archiving strategies, identifying relevant stakeholders, funding challenges)
  • Collaborative approaches (cross-sector preservation work within and across archiving institutions, collaborations with professionals in cognate fields, community-based strategies and participatory archiving, crowdsourcing initiatives)
  • Archiving born-digital content (platform-specific strategies and preservation issues, technological challenges and innovations, professional vs. nonprofessional productions)

 

CFP: Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists and Funding Opportunity

Call For Proposals
Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists
Earlham College
Richmond, IndianA
June 12-14, 2020

The Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists (CQHA) will hold its 23rd biennial conference at Earlham College on June 12-14, 2020.

CQHA is a community that brings together those who study the history of Quakers and Quakerism with practitioners from cultural institutions that make records of the Quaker past available for scholarship. The Conference takes place every two years at locations in North America and abroad, and welcomes both Quaker and non-Quaker participants from diverse backgrounds.
We invite proposals for presentations on any aspect of Quaker history, across all time periods and locations. This year we encourage proposals on the following topics: Challenges of diversity, equity, or inclusion in Quakerism; Quakerism in Indiana and the US Midwest; (Re)assessments of Quakerism and Quaker historiography.

In addition to individual paper presentations (20 minutes), we welcome proposals for panels of complete sessions (2-3 papers), roundtable discussions (60 or 90 minutes), workshops (up to a half day), or other collaborative formats. We also seek participants for a session of lightning talks (5-7 minutes each), a format especially well suited to works-in-progress, summaries of recent publications, or ongoing projects. All presenters are required to register for the conference.
Proposals should consist of the following elements:

  1. Identify the format of your proposed presentation: a single paper, a panel of papers, a roundtable discussion, a workshop, a lightning talk, or other format, and indicate its proposed length.
  2. For each presentation proposed, please supply:
    1. the presentation title;
    2. a one-page description of the proposed presentation that highlights argument, approach, or methodology, as well as anticipated content; and
    3. a one-page vita or resume for each presenter.
  3. Proposals for sessions should be sent as a package, including an overall session description as well as the requested materials for each participant.

Complete proposals should be sent via email to Susan Garfinkel and John Anderies, program co-chairs, at quakerhistoriansandarchivists@gmail.com.

The deadline for proposals is December 6, 2019.

Logistics: Dormitory lodging and meal service will be available on the campus of Earlham College, within walking distance of conference sessions. Hotels, bed & breakfasts, and AirBnBs are located within driving distance in the city of Richmond. Located in eastern Indiana, Richmond is accessible by plane plus shuttle or car from Dayton (45-minutes), Indianapolis (90-minutes), or Cincinnati (90-minutes) airports. Richmond is accessible by car via I-70 and US routes 27, 35, and 40. The nearest Amtrak station is Connersville, Indiana (35-minutes).

In an area settled by Quakers in the early nineteenth century, the city of Richmond is located along the historic National Road and serves as county seat for Wayne County, Indiana. Richmond is home to four colleges and two seminaries including Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion, and is headquarters of Friends United Meeting. The city and region offer an abundant selection of restaurants, shops, museums, outdoor recreation and cultural opportunities.

Questions? quakerhistoriansandarchivists@gmail.com
Conference Website: http://libguides.guilford.edu/cqha
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quakerhistoriansandarchivists/

Funding Opportunity from Friend Historical Association (FHA)

Funding for Underrepresented Scholars: Friends Historical Association offers a funding opportunity to better support scholars whose race or ethnicity, gender expression and sexual preference, faith (or lack thereof), and/or other facets of background and identity are traditionally underrepresented amongst CQHA conference presenters and attendees. Stipends of $1,000 are available for up to three applicants. Applications are due December 11, 2019. Please see http://www.quakerhistory.org/broadeningscholarship for details.

CFP: Empirical Librarians 2020 (February 27-28, 2020 – Knoxville, Tennessee)

Empirical Librarians 2020

Empirical Librarians 2020 will be held February 27-28, 2020, at the University of Tennessee Conference Center in Knoxville, TN.

Proposal Submission Form: https://forms.gle/nYbNSBmvwsFsbP2o9

Empirical Librarians (https://www.lib.utk.edu/emplibs/) is a small conference that specifically focuses on the unique place of original research and original researchers in the larger information environment. We are a place where librarians who do research and librarians who support research can come together to share ideas and insights about original research by patrons and librarians.

The 6th Empirical Librarians conference seeks presentation proposals from librarians, library professionals, and LIS students on our two conference topic tracks:

  1. supporting original research, through faculty and graduate outreach, scholarly communications, etc.; and
  2. performing research in libraries.

Proposals can be concurrent sessions, either as presentations or panels, or can be short lightning talks. In Track 1 we especially encourage presentations that focus on the unique needs of patrons who are doing research, and how working with researchers is different from supporting non-researcher patrons. In Track 2 we especially encourage discussions of practical methodology, including why research could be or was done a certain way and what lessons were learned that may help attendees do their own research.

Please submit proposal abstracts and information at this form (https://forms.gle/nYbNSBmvwsFsbP2o9).

The deadline to submit proposals is October 18, 2019. Proposal authors will receive notice of acceptance or requests to revise with feedback in late November.

Presenters will be expected to register as regular attendees. Registration will open in early November. Thanks to support from our sponsors, University of Tennessee Libraries and the VCU Libraries, we have been able to maintain a modest registration rate. We anticipate registration to cost $65 for early bird registration for the day-and-a-half conference.

CFP: 2019 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference—Biographies Area: Philadelphia, PA (April 15-18, 2020)

Call for Papers: 2019 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference—Biographies Area: Philadelphia, PA  (April 15-18, 2020)

Submission Deadline: 11/1/19

The Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association annual conference will be held on Wednesday April 15 through Saturday April 18, 2020 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel on Market Street in Philadelphia, PA. Scholars from a wide variety of disciplines will meet to share their Popular Culture research and interests.

The Biographies Area is soliciting papers that examine the connections between biography and popular culture. Papers and full panel presentations regarding any aspect of popular culture and biography are encouraged. Potential topics might include:

– Biography and entertainment, art, music, theater
– Biography and film
– Biography and criminal justice
– Television programs about biography
– Biography and urban legends
– Biography and folklore
– Biography and literature
– Scholarly Biography
– Controversial Biography
– Psychoanalysis and Biography
– Historical Biography
– Political Biography
– Autobiography

Sessions are scheduled in 1½ hour slots, typically with four papers or speakers per standard session.  Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes. The deadline is November 1, 2019.

Proposals must be submitted on the conference website.

Thank you for your interest!

Please direct any queries to the Biographies Area chair:
Susie Skarl
Associate Professor/Urban Affairs Librarian
UNLV Libraries
Las Vegas, NV 89154
susie.skarl@unlv.edu OR susieskarl@gmail.com

Susie Skarl, MLS

Associate Professor/Urban Affairs Librarian

UNLV Lied Library

susie.skarl@unlv.edu

(702) 895-2141