Call for Papers
CALL FOR PAPERS
You are invited to submit proposals and manuscripts for a special issue of Library Philosophy and Practice entitled: “Shape Shifters: Librarians Evolve Yet Again in the Age of Google.” The issue, which will appear in Winter 2007, will be guest edited by Jill Cirasella and Mariana Regalado of Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
Librarians have a long history of responding professionally and creatively to changes in information dissemination technology. It is no surprise, therefore, that they are adapting themselves and their work to Google, its many modules, and its many competitors. Articles in “Shape Shifters” will explore how library services, resources, and job activities are changing in response to these tools and the paradigm shift they herald.
Manuscripts are sought that examine concrete changes in a specific area or issue of public, school, academic, or special librarianship. Possible areas or issues include, but are not limited to:
– Reference
– Instruction
– Collection development
– Technical services
– Access services
– Rare books and/or preservation
– Privacy
– Website and interface design
– Space planning
– Administration and personnel
– Marketing
Whatever area or issue is examined, authors should discuss how changes in services, resources, and/or job activities are being facilitated or even necessitated by one or more of three critical aspects of these tools:
1) Ease of access
2) Proliferation of content
3) Independence from traditional library staff and spaces
Articles should be concise, well-reasoned, and focused on the practice and philosophy of librarianship. While some professional speculation is welcome, authors are discouraged from writing diatribes, manifestos, or calls-to-arms about Google or its competitors.
The submission deadline for completed manuscripts is October 20, 2006. Authors are encouraged to contact the guest editors with proposals or questions. Manuscript length is flexible but should normally fall between 1,500 and 4,000 words. Please email word-processed manuscripts in MLA format to Mariana Regalado (regalado@brooklyn.cuny.edu) and Jill Cirasella (cirasella@brooklyn.cuny.edu).
Library Philosophy and Practice is a peer-reviewed electronic journal that explores the connection between library practice and the philosophy and theory behind it. To learn more about Library Philosophy and Practice, visit: http://libr.unl.edu:2000/LPP/lpp.htm.