The Library Research Round Table (LRRT) of the American Library Association is seeking volunteers to organize and coordinate the next Library Research Seminar (LRSIV), an international conference focusing upon research within the library and information science profession and discipline. These persons should have strong credentials in research and in organizing meetings and should have the backing of their organizations. These organizations should be schools that offer ALA accredited degrees in library and information science or libraries that make significant contributions to library research.
LRS is a research meeting that will include empirical, methodological, and conceptual work within library and information science. It will include the following types of scholarship:
- Quantitative and qualitative work
- Functionally related work – e.g. covering information seeking or retrieval, classification or library management
- Site specific work – e.g. covering public or academic libraries
- Doctoral student research
- Collaborative work between professionals and researchers
Examples of potential topics for seminar programs and presentations are:
- The foundations of the library profession
- Information access
- Facilities for information service
- Technologies
- Research methodology
- Library organizations
LRS requires a site and a facility, either on or near the sponsors’ home institution that meets these criteria:
- Provides a conference planning service
- Has rooms, dining, and meeting space for 300 to 400 conference attendees
- Offers meeting and dining space within walking distance of one another
- Includes meeting space able to support juried papers, invited papers, panel discussions, advisory clinics, and roundtable discussions
- Provides these facilities in October or early November without conflict with major local events, e.g. football games
- Offers these facilities all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
- Has extensive and convenient air travel service
- Provides a cost-effective event with reasonable fees and travel expenses
LRS meets every three years and LRRT intends to distribute future seminars equally among the eastern, western, and middle parts of North America. The next seminar, LRS IV, will meet in fall 2007, and LRRT invites applications to host that seminar.
The seminar is self-supporting and non-profit. Any surplus will supply seed money to the succeeding LRS.
Interested parties should send a proposal of no more than ten pages that explains how their credentials in research and organizing meetings and their institutional support, their site and facilities will ensure a successful seminar to:
Stephen E. Wiberley, Jr.
Chair, Library Research Round Table
Richard J. Daley Library
Box 8198
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL 60680-8198
The deadline for submission of proposals is November 20, 2004 . LRRT will announce selection of the site on February 1, 2005 .
Information about LRSII (College Park, MD, Nov. 2-3, 2001) and LRSIII (Kansas City, MO, Oct. 14-16, 2004) is available at http://lrs4.fims.uwo.ca/