Tag: allied professions

CFP: Propose a Topic for an ITAL column: “From the Field” or “ITAL &”

Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL), the quarterly open-access journal published by ALA’s Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures division, is looking for contributions to two of its regular, non-peer-reviewed columns: ”From the Field” and “ITAL &” for volume 45 (2026). Proposals are due by December 1, 2025, and authors will be notified by December 31, 2025.

The two columns are intended to be practitioner-focused, and editors 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 must be submitted in English.

Columns are generally in the 1,000-1,500 word range and may include illustrations. These will not be peer-reviewed research articles but are meant to share practical experience with technology development or uses within the library. The September 2026 issue of ITAL will likely be a special issue about AI, so we will be looking for AI-themed topics to coincide with that publication. Topics for the other three projected ITAL issues in 2026 will include a broader variety of subject areas, as outlined for each column below.

Please note: there is more information about each column below, and there are different submission forms for each column. You are welcome to submit proposals to one or both, but please avoid submitting the exact same proposal to both columns, and please ensure you are using the correct form for your submission.

From the Field:

“From the Field” highlights a technology-based project, practice, or innovation from any library in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) community. The focus should be on the use of specific technologies to improve, provide access to, preserve, or evaluate the impact of library resources and services.

Recent “From the Field” columns highlighted innovative technology projects in small and large libraries and archives ranging from using visualization technology to make more effective use of library budgets to using ChatGPT to identify and highlight the work of early modern women printers. Sample future columns could include implementations around management of research data; implementation of new open source products; preservation of digitized or born-digital objects; uses or development of AI tools; support of open science/open education, etc.

Those who are interested in being an author for “From the Field” 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 via this form no later than December 1, 2025.

ITAL &:

“ITAL &” is a 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.

Recent “ITAL &” columns have discussed accessibility requirements for web-based content, critical thinking about and usage of emerging generative AI tools, a review of a practitioner’s first year as a new systems librarian, issues surrounding knowledge access in the prison industrial complex, and a comparison of free graphic design software platforms commonly used by library workers. Future topics could include, but are not limited to: 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.

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 via this form no later than December 1, 2025.

____

Since these are both non-peer-reviewed columns, there is also an opportunity to engage in new 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.

Contact Cindi Blyberg at cindi@blyberg.net (From the Field) or Shanna Hollich at shollich@gmail.com (ITAL &) with any questions. Please forward to any colleagues who may be interested. Thank you!

CFP: 5th Biennial GSISC 2026

Existence is Our Resistance

How do the very acts of being, knowing, and communicating outside of normative frameworks create new forms of information, alternative archives, and innovative approaches? How do diverse gender and sexual identities illuminate biases in existing information practices and inspire more just and equitable futures?

Librarians, archivists, and information workers are on the frontlines of the assault on free speech, academic freedom, dissent, DEI, and the intellectual and creative foundations of social equity. As we convene in 2026 for the fifth Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium (GSISC), we seek to explore and celebrate the myriad ways in which lived realities, information practices, and intellectual contributions of queer, trans, non-binary, and other gender and sexually diverse individuals inherently challenge, disrupt, and transform the information landscape in this challenging time.

The GSISC planning committee invites you to join us June 17 and 18 for a virtual gathering to foster community and connection as we confront forces that seek to erase our existence, honor the legacies of the movements before us, and work to collectively imagine liberatory futures into being: we are everywhere. We welcome proposals that address a range of topics on how we nurture resistance in our profession, with consideration for its locus among the intersections of gender, queerness, race, and sexuality.

Questions and considerations might include, but are not limited to:

Existence as Resistance

Queer Realities

  • Affect in the body
  • Entering the LIS profession in 2026
  • Where can we work: navigating the assault on intellectual freedom and free speech

Self-care/Collective-care

  • Coming out whole on the other side: surviving the present wave of authoritarianism
  • Protecting our peace: stepping up and stepping back as strategic defenses
  • Loving the work when the work doesn’t love you back

Resistance as Existence

Misinformation, Disinformation, Censorship, and Freedom of Expression

  • Identifying silences, gaps, and lies in dominant information landscapes
  • Activating/archiving alternative information resources
  • Working outside of/against the establishment: providing information in defiance of institutional compliance
  • Teaching and mentorship in LIS graduate education in this liminal time

Know Your Rights

  • The right to resist: addressing rights information as an information literacy issue
  • Protest and the right to privacy on college campuses
  • Labor organizing and collective action, within and without unions

Submit your proposal: forms.gle/Uc9G3ofbvZxzCnoZA 

Please direct any questions or concerns to GSISC2026@gmail.com. Please note that we are a fully volunteer run conference. While we staff our inbox, sometimes we may take a few days to get back to you.

Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium (GSISC) logo by Bernadette Floresca.

Important dates

Deadline for proposals – February 27, 2026

Notification of acceptance – March 31, 2026

Registration opens* – April 13, 2026

Colloquium dates – June 17 and 18, 2026, Noon – 4pm (EST) each day

*Rates: Please note there will be a modest registration fee for this event, 

Note: Further logistics will be unfolding.

The Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium emerged from the Litwin Books and Library Juice Press Series on Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies, and was founded by the series founding editor, Emily Drabinski. The first GSISC colloquium was held in 2014, inspired in part by the Feminist and Queer Information Studies Reader (2013). Its aim was to respond to the challenges posed by critical perspectives on gender and sexuality in our field. This gathering seeks to create an inclusive space for difficult, fruitful conversations that foreground gender, sexuality, and the body, with consideration for libraries and cultural heritage institutions as sites of both liberation and oppression. The colloquium intends to foster dialogue among librarians, archivists, and information workers on our profession and its locus among the intersections of gender, queerness, race, sexuality, and the freedom to exist and thrive in our bodies.

CFP: Popular Culture Association Libraries, Archives, and Museums

The Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (https://pcaaca.org/) annual conference will be held April 8-11, 2026, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia. Scholars from a wide variety of disciplines will meet to share their Popular Culture research and interests.

The Libraries, Archives & Museums area is soliciting papers dealing with any aspect of Popular Culture as it pertains to libraries, archives, museums, or related areas. Possible topics include:

  • Descriptions of research collections or exhibits
  • Developments in technical services for collecting/preserving popular culture materials
  • Using popular culture materials in education programs and/or information literacy
  • Analyses of social networking or web resources
  • Challenges and bans on library materials and related attacks on libraries and personnel
  • Issues related to museum and archive repatriation
  • Representations of libraries, librarians, or museums in popular culture and media
  • The future of libraries and museums, including the effects of emerging technologies and generative AI on exhibits, collections, or services.

The deadline for submitting a proposal is November 30, 2025. Proposals may be submitted at https://pcaaca.org/page/submissionguidelines.

Please direct any questions to the area chair for Libraries, Archives & Museums, Beth Downey, at edowney@library.msstate.edu.

Contact Information

Elizabeth “Beth” Downey
Professor and Popular Culture Librarian
Mississippi State University Libraries
Mississippi State, MS 39762
662-325-3834
Contact Email: edowney@library.msstate.edu
URL: https://pcaaca.org/members/group.aspx?id=250621

New Publication Special Issue: “Heritage in the Margins: Forgetting, Remembering, Rewriting”

International Journal of Heritage Studies, Volume 31, Issue 9 (2025)
(partial open access)

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce that our special issue, “Heritage in the Margins: Forgetting, Remembering, Rewriting,” has been published with the International Journal of Heritage Studies. We’d like to thank all the authors who contributed to this issue and for the insightful conversations we shared around the topics we explored.

This collection of articles explores how marginalized communities navigate heritage preservation, representation, and cultural memory in complex and often contested spaces.

What’s Inside:

Heritage in the Margins: Forgetting, Remembering, Rewriting – Merve Kayikci and Sertaç Sehlikoglu

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2025.2543747

Islam Exhibited – Merve Kayikci examines representation challenges in pluralistic societies

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2025.2535326

Inheritance Without the Heritage – Sertaç Sehlikoglu explores ecological dimensions of cultural conquest narratives through fig trees

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2025.2496873

Life-Sustaining Transboundary Survival – Nelli Sargsyan & Tamar Shirinian rethink Armenian heritage struggles

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2024.2401806

Colonialism as ‘Shared History’? – Alexandra Oancă investigates European colonial heritage negotiations in Casablanca

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2024.2386698

Identity and (Dis)owning the Past – Erol Saglam provides anthropological insights into heritage preservation and revitalization

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2024.2443891

Why This Matters

This collection challenges traditional heritage narratives by centering voices and experiences often relegated to the margins. From Islamic representation in museums to ecological memory and transboundary survival strategies, these scholars illuminate how communities actively shape their cultural legacies.

In an era of increasing cultural polarization, understanding how marginalized communities preserve, contest, and reimagine their heritage is crucial for building more inclusive societies.

We’re grateful for the collaborative spirit that made this issue possible and excited to share these important contributions with the world.

Read the full issue: https://lnkd.in/eEvWyiSV

Warm regards,

Merve Kayikci & Sertaç Sehlikoglu

Contact Information

Merve Kayikci

Radboud University

Gender and Diversity Research Group

Contact Email

kayikci.mrve@gmail.com

URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjhs20/31/9

Call for Articles: Disabilities in Libraries & Information Studies

DisLIS Open for Article Submissions

Disabilities in Libraries & Information Studies (DisLIS) is now accepting articles for peer-reviewed, open access publication. This includes original research articles, review articles, case studies, theory articles, and notes from the field. We recommend authors use this template to structure their articles. We will review submissions using this rubric. Academic articles are peer reviewed using an open, collaborative review process. Articles will be published on a rolling basis.

Article Submission Link

About DisLIS

DisLIS is an open access, multimedia journal run by information professionals who work in various types of information-oriented jobs. All members of the Editorial Board either have disabilities or have extensive experience with disability-centered work.

Our publishing focus is to center the experience of disability within information work in a variety of settings including but not limited to K-12 schools; LIS programs; public, academic, special, or other types of libraries or archives; focusing on the experiences of library or archive workers or users, or people who work with libraries in other ways. Works published may take a variety of forms, including book reviews, peer-reviewed scholarly articles or case studies, poetry, and recorded interviews.

Contact the Editorial Board if you have questions: DisLisJournal@googlegroups.com

DisLIS website is available at https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/dislis/

CFP: Printing History – Seditious Printing

Call for Papers for Printing History Themed Issue: Seditious Printing

In respect of the 250th anniversary of the printing of the Declaration of Independence, Printing History 38 will examine print as a means of provocation, agitation, and rebellion. We invite author submissions that interrogate print-as-protest across borders and cultural contexts, with a focus on printing’s particular power to foment political and social change. We particularly welcome submissions highlighting the print production of underresearched and/or marginalized groups and individuals. 

We invite interested researchers, professionals, and practitioners to share work engaged with the following topics:

  • Print production as a means of political provocation and rebellion
  • Print and the shaping of American (or other cultural/political) imaginaries
  • Print as a catalyst for social change
  • Activist print cultures: posters, broadsides, zines, ephemera
  • Printed matter as an organizing tool
  • Secret presses; underground printing 
  • Interrogations of print and power

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. We do not solicit proposals for articles, but we are happy to discuss ideas and abstracts via email.

Submission deadline: October 31, 2025

Call for Papers: Queer/Trans History Conference 2026

The LGBTQ+ History Association is pleased to announce a call for papers for its fourth conference, the Queer/Trans History Conference* 2026 (#QTHC26), to be held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from June 2 to 5, 2026. 

*Yes, this is a new name! The LGBTQ+ History Association has always interpreted “queer” as an umbrella that included queering of gender identity and expression, but it is important to name the work that we do more explicitly. With this name change, we’re affirming that this conference is a place to have the conversations about how sexuality, gender, and transness intersect and diverge. Also, in a political moment when the U.S. federal government is actively erasing trans history, we are committing to defending history, resisting fascism, and continuing to tell stories from the queer and/or trans past. 

Scholars working on any aspect of the queer and/or trans past, in any region of the world, during any period, are encouraged to apply. This conference highlights historical approaches to queer/trans scholarship, and while interdisciplinary approaches are welcome, we are soliciting proposals that explore queer/trans lives in the past. There is no specific theme; rather, we hope that this gathering will simply showcase the best of current work and new directions in the fields of queer and/or trans histories, including panels addressing historiographical debates or states-of-the-field. We encourage queer/trans scholarship on racial formations and racial capitalism, colonialism and empire, disability and embodiment, paid and unpaid labor, and practices of kinship and intimacy. Moreover, we are interested in panels that look beyond the twentieth-century United States. To promote robust conversations, we encourage panels organized by theme rather than region.

We particularly encourage panels and roundtables that respond to the political crises and technological changes impacting how we research, study, and teach queer/trans history today. In an era in which the teaching of history, ethnic studies and gender/sexuality studies faces increased scrutiny and backlash, we welcome panels and roundtables that explore critical reflections on queer/trans history in the classroom, from K-12 through higher education. As the US National Park Service deletes trans history content from government webpages, we encourage submissions that discuss queer/trans public history projects today. As the media through which queer/trans history knowledge circulates continue to diversify, we welcome panels that discuss how historians are using podcasts, online exhibitions, blogs, documentaries, social media rolls, Signal threads, Zoom webinars, and other formats to tell stories about the queer/trans past. 

Dorm rooms and on-campus hotel rooms will be available to make this conference as affordable as possible and registration fees will be minimal. 

A note from the conference co-chairs:

We want to thank members who’ve reached out to express concern about hosting the 2026 conference in the United States. We’re working to address those concerns, and particularly to make the conference as accessible as possible given the circumstances, including offering fully virtual options, sponsoring visas, and helping keep the costs of the conference as low as possible. We encourage folks to keep reaching out to us–this process is collaborative, and there would be no QTHC without all of you.

There is no perfect solution. While the U.S. is a place that international scholars may want to boycott or feel is unsafe to travel to, it is also a place that is hard for our trans and/or immigrant members to leave and return to. We also believe it is important to keep discussing trans and queer histories in the United States when the federal government is actively trying to erase these fields of inquiry. We considered several options and went with one where we had a dedicated local organizer with the capacity to facilitate the logistics on the ground. We want this conference to be accessible for as many people as possible. Ann Arbor has a generally welcoming climate for LGBTQ folks, ample institutional resources, interesting archives, and a richly documented local/regional LGBTQ history, so we’re excited about this opportunity. 

We see a future for the QTHC that continues to move around, and if you and your institution can host for 2028, please be in touch with the LGBTQ History Association co-chairs! We are open to a Canadian location for 2028, and look forward to an ongoing discussion with our membership to explore how best to facilitate accessible transnational dialogue about the queer/trans past in the years to come.

Guidelines for Submission

We are accepting proposals for:

  1. Fully in-person panels (three papers, a chair, and a comment; chair and comment roles can be fulfilled by the same person), roundtables (three to five speakers who will speak for 5-10 minutes each, plus a chair), workshops (an event in which one or more facilitators present on a topic and engage the audience in hands-on activity or constructive dialogue; examples might include  “Writing for the Public with the Editors of Nursing Clio,” “How to Launch a Podcast with Dig: A History Podcast,” “Writing a Book Proposal,” etc; workshops will require attendees to pre-register, and a max participant threshold should be set in the proposal), or single papers. 
  2. Fully virtual panels (three papers, a chair, and a comment; chair and comment roles can be fulfilled by the same person), roundtables (three to five speakers who will speak for 5-10 minutes each, plus a chair), or single papers. In response to member feedback about hybrid panels and prohibitive costs around technical support, we have decided not to accept hybrid proposals that require conference support to implement the hybrid experience. 

Our hope is that with options for fully virtual panels we can support opportunities for scholars who feel unsafe traveling to the United States to gather, share scholarship, and connect. 

We will consider individual paper submissions, out of which the program committee will assemble a very limited number of panels (either fully virtual or in-person). See below for ways to connect with others working in your field.

Panels and roundtables will be 1.5 hours. We encourage all full panel submissions to include at least one graduate student where possible. All panels should include a diversity of scholars in terms of institution, rank, and identity. Please only apply as part of one panel or roundtable. (The exception to this rule is for the role of chair or commentator, which may be performed by someone who is also giving a paper or appearing on a roundtable.) You do need to include someone to perform the chair, with an optional commenter. 

You may reach out to conference co-chairs for help in locating a chair and/or commentator: email conference@lgbtq-ha.org. In order to assemble panels, feel free to use the LGBTQHA listserv to connect with others working on similar topics (LGBTQHA@groups.io; if you are not already a member, you can register here: https://groups.io/g/lgbtqha) or use the hashtag #qthc26 on BlueSky or Facebook. 

Full Panels should include, in one Word document:

  • Title of panel
  • Panel abstract (300 words max.)
  • Title and abstract for each paper (300 words max.)
  • One-page CV or biographical statement with contact information for each participant
  • Chair (required) and Commenter (optional) roles specified

Roundtables should include, in one Word document:

  • Title of roundtable
  • Panel abstract (300 words max.)
  • Abstract for each contribution (300 words max.)
  • One-page CV or biographical statement with contact information for each participant
  • Chair role specified

Workshops should include, in one Word document:

  • Title of workshop
  • Workshop description  (300 words max.)
  • Maximum number of participants 
  • Expectations of participants (Do they need to bring a book proposal in progress? A laptop or other equipment? Sturdy walking shoes?) 
  • Support that the facilitators would need from the conference staff
  • Workshops can run up to 3 hours; please make a note in the proposal of the desired run time. 
  • One-page CV or biographical statement with contact information for each facilitator

Single paper submissions should include, in one Word document:

  • Title of paper
  • Paper abstract (300 words max.)
  • One-page CV or biographical statement with contact information

Please submit all proposals by November 1, 2025 to conference@lgbtq-ha.org. The QTHC 26 program committee will make decisions and send notifications in December. All presenters are expected to be (or become) members of the LGBTQ History Association by the time of the conference. Membership information is here.

In solidarity,

Co-Chairs: Alex Burnett, Averill Earls, and Nikita Shepard

Contact Information

Co-Chairs: Alex Burnett, Averill Earls, and Nikita Shepard conference@lgbtq-ha.org

Contact Email

conference@lgbtq-ha.org

URL https://lgbtq-ha.org/conferences/queer-and-trans-history-conference-2026-cfp-coming-soon/

Call for Submissions: Public Services Quarterly

Call for Submissions 

The “Special Libraries, Special Challenges” column in Public Services Quarterly is currently seeking submissions for issues that explore all aspects of working in a special library. Articles generally are approximately 2,000 words and focus on practical ideas rather than theory. Case studies are always welcomed.   

Column Description 

“Special Libraries, Special Challenges” is a column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, business, special collections, university archives, governmental settings, and so forth. In each column, authors discuss innovative projects, public service issues, and creative solutions that arise specifically in special libraries.

Potential Article Topics

  • Plans to commemorate anniversaries and historic dates
  • Profile of libraries/archives at professional organizations
  • Case studies of operations and scope of work in corporate libraries
  • Profile of libraries supporting the work in various branches of government  
  • Rebuilding library services and facilities after a building disaster (fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, etc.)
  • Innovative pilot projects 
  • Developing new programs for students and/or faculty
  • Professional and continuing development for library staff
  • AI and library services
  • Emerging trends, such as empirical research, data analytics and alt-metrics 
  • Teaching various literacies (information, media, technology, etc.) 
  • Other ideas welcomed!  

Contact  Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact the co-editors, Patti Gibbons (pgibbons@uchicago.edu) or Deborah Schander (deborah.schander@ct.gov).

CFP: The Materiality of the Late Medieval Book: Production, Reading, and Transition

Call for Papers – IMC Leeds 2026

Panel Series: The Materiality of the Late Medieval Book: Production, Reading, and Transition.

Deadline for submissions: 14 September 2025

We invite proposals for papers for a series of panels at the International Medieval Congress (IMC), to be held in Leeds, 6–9 July 2026. This session series will explore the materiality of the late medieval book between c. 1350 and 1540, with a particular emphasis on approaches that take the physical object as the foundation of scholarly inquiry. This strand aims to foreground the book as a material artefact – not simply as a vehicle for text or image, but as a made, handled, and interpreted object. We seek contributions that begin with codicological, palaeographical, artifactual, or structural features of books – bindings, layouts, quire structures, scripts, substrates, wear patterns, or added matter – and use these material traces to investigate broader questions of cultural practice, intellectual history, devotional life, or reading habits.

Papers may address, but are not limited to:

  • Material production: physical construction of books, use of specific materials (parchment, paper, pigments), regional or institutional practices
  • Reading and handling: how physical features shaped reading practices and reader interaction; evidence of use such as marginalia, damage, repairs, signs of wear, and ownership traces; and the repurposing, circulation, or afterlives of books
  • Transitions and continuities: how the rise of print engages with manuscript materiality – including hybrid books, printed texts with manuscript additions, and conservative or experimental formats that blur traditional boundaries
  • Methodologies: new approaches to studying the physical book as evidence and object

We particularly welcome work grounded in close analysis of specific manuscripts, printed books, or fragments. 

Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, along with your name, institutional affiliation, and a brief biographical note (max. 100 words), to Janne van der Loop, (jannevanderloop@uni-mainz.de) by 14 September 2025.

Selected papers will form part of a multi-session strand proposal for IMC 2026. Applicants will be notified of the outcome around 20 September 2025. For questions or further information, please contact Janne van der Loop (jannevanderloop@uni-mainz.de) or Ad Putter (A.D.Putter@bristol.ac.uk)

We look forward to papers that place the material form of the late medieval book at the centre of scholarly interpretation.

Contact Email

jannevanderloop@uni-mainz.de

CFP: Academizines

Dr. Spencer D. C. Keralis and Professor Zach Frazier, editors

Call for Proposals

We invite proposals for Academizines, a special issue of Unbound: A Journal of Digital Scholarship. Zines have evolved as a form of scholarly communication that reaches wider publics than traditional academic publishing, and allows for a greater degree of creativity and innovation than conventional forms (Vong, 2016; Weida, 2020). Zines are featured in the special collections of research libraries including Barnard, the University of Minnesota, NYU, Duke, Texas A&M, Harvard, and many others, illustrating their value as cultural artifacts and works of creative and literary art (Darms, 2013; Joseph and Sawyer, 2024), and provide accessible forms of scholarly publishing, community-building, and resource-sharing among our personal and research communities (Etengoff, 2015; Ingram, 2024; Thomas, 2018). This special issue invites contributors from across the disciplines to share their research and creative scholarship in zine form. We welcome contributions in the language, vernacular, and forms used by the scholars and communities the zines serve, and encourage international perspectives, particularly from the global South and other regions not well represented in US-based scholarly journals and archives. 

PDFs or physical copies of completed zines may be submitted with the 250-word abstract. We’re interested in collaborating with contributors on how to best present their work online, but we encourage printable PDFs to help readers print and share your work.

Physical copies of zines will be placed, at the creators’ discretion, in the LaBudde Special Collections and Archives Zine Collection at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. We encourage contributors to place their zines in other zine libraries as well.

As a community, contributors will have the opportunity to celebrate the launch of the issue and their contributions in a Virtual Zine Con hosted by the UMKC ZineLab in January of 2026.

Submit your 250-word Abstract

Key Dates & Deadlines

CFP Opens: August 1, 2025
Deadline for Abstracts: September 15, 2025
Acceptance notifications: September 30, 2025
Deadline for Completed Accepted Zines: November 15, 2025
Issue Launches: January 15, 2026
Academizines Virtual Zine Con Issue Virtual Launch Party: January 31, 2026

Some Possible Formats:

  • Saddle-stitch (staple or sewn) half-letter booklets
  • One-sheet folded zines
  • Accordion books
  • Cartonera
  • Digital zines, explainer decks, and other alternative zine forms

Some Possible Topics

We welcome zines representing scholarship in any discipline, and we’re particularly enthusiastic about:

  • Accessibility in/for zines
  • Cartonera as scholarly communication
  • Design Justice and zines
  • Integrated computing and zines – Raspberry Pi, Arduinos, minimal computing, haptics
  • Perzines as narrative writing 
  • Queer(ing) and Trans(ing) zines
  • Zine libraries and archives
  • Zines against AI and accelerationism
  • Zines and/as book history
  • Zines and/as comics studies
  • Zines and/as critical making
  • Zines and/as data visualization
  • Zines and/as digital humanities
  • Zines and/as media archaeology
  • Zines and/as public humanities
  • Zines and/as social justice activism
  • Zines for public health and wellness
  • Zines in and for your discipline
  • Zine research in zine form

About the Editors

Dr. Spencer Keralis is a scholar of the past, present, and future of the book. Their work in book and media history has appeared in Book History, American Periodicals, and hyperrhiz: new media cultures. They are the co-editor with Cait Coker (Illinois) of the essay collection DH+BH: Digital Humanities and Book History (IOPN, 2025). Dr. Keralis currently serves as Head of Digital Scholarship Services and Co-Director of the Center for Digital and Public Humanities at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Zach Frazier is a graphic designer, educator, and small-press publisher. Zach is the founder of Astringent Press, a low-to-no-cost, small-volume publisher that seeks to produce physical and digital texts from visual/textual narratives belonging to historically minoritized and underserved communities. Zach’s work is featured in book shops and galleries across the U.S. Along with these roles, Zach also serves as Assistant Professor of Graphic Design in UMKC’s Department of Media, Art and Design.

The editors are the co-founders of ZineLab, an interdisciplinary book arts lab in UMKC Libraries’ Digital Collaboration Studio.

Bibliography

Darms, Lisa. 2013. The Riot GRRRL Collection. Feminist Press.

Etengoff, Chana. 2015. “Teaching Note: Using Zines to Teach about Gender Minority Experiences and Mixed-Methods Research.” Feminist Teacher: A Journal of the Practices, Theories, and Scholarship of Feminist Teaching 25 (2–3): 211–18. doi:10.5406/femteacher.25.2-3.0211.

Ingram, Noël. 2024. “Using Zines to Teach Literary Analysis in a Post ChatGPT World.” Teaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice 13 (3): 53–64.

Joseph, Branden W. and Drew Sawyer. 2024. Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines. Phaidon.

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