ALAO call for Challenging Jacks of all Trades proposals

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At CMLE, many of our members are solo library people or working with small numbers of colleagues. This leads us all to being good across all kinds of responsibilities in the library – a jack of all trades! So when I saw this call for articles on just this topic, I wanted to be sure everyone else got to see it to!

If you are interested in this proposal and would like to submit an article, but aren’t sure where to start or would like another set of eyes to look over your material – contact us at CMLE HQ! We are here to help you with this kind of project!

Call for proposals

Advances in Library Administration and Organization
Challenging the “Jacks of All Trades but Masters of None” Librarian Syndrome
Publication due 2018

Series Editor: Samantha Hines, Peninsula College

Volume Editor: George J. Fowler, Old Dominion University

Librarianship may be said to be facing an identity crisis. It may also be said that librarianship has been facing an identity crisis since it was proposed as a profession. With the advent of technology that lowers barriers to the access of information, the mission of a library has become indistinct.  This volume will explore the current purpose of librarianship and libraries, how we become “Masters of our Domains”, develop expertise in various elements of the profession, and how we extend outward into our communities.

Proposals in the following areas would be of particular interest:

  • What is the purpose of a library in a community? And what roles in the community best align with that purpose?
  • How ought we gather and implement expertise from outside the profession?
  • How can we communicate and garner support from the government, the private sector and users in order to achieve our purpose?
  • How can libraries balance demands to serve other needs that detract from the library’s ability to fulfil its purpose?
  • How can libraries build community around this purpose, and how ought they reach out to their communities to engage and serve them?
  • How can libraries demonstrate positive impact on young generations?
  • What opportunities are opened to libraries and librarians by recent and potential future technological advancements?

This will be the second volume of Advances in Library Administration and Organization (ALAO) to publish in 2018.

About the Advances in Library Administration and Organization series

ALAO offers long-form research, comprehensive discussions of theoretical developments, and in-depth accounts of evidence-based practice in library administration and organization.  The series answers the questions, “How have libraries been managed, and how should they be managed?” It goes beyond a platform for the sharing of research to provide a venue for dialogue across issues, in a way that traditional peer reviewed journals cannot.  Through this series, practitioners can glean new approaches in challenging times and collaborate on the exploration of scholarly solutions to professional quandaries.

How to submit

If you are interested in contributing to this volume, please send an abstract of 300 words or less as well as author details and estimated length of final submission to Samantha Hines at shines@pencol.edu by March 31, 2017.

Submission deadlines

Submission deadline for proposals: March 31, 2017

Notification of acceptance sent by:  June 30, 2017

Submission deadline for full chapters:  August 31, 2017

Comments returned to authors:  October 31, 2017

Submission deadline for chapter revisions:  November 30, 2017