Head Tale

I'm posting this mainly as a head's up to future students who might have an opportunity to be involved in this conference as a volunteer or in some other way (if you're brave, why not submit a proposal to present at the conference?) 

John Buschman is the closing plenary speaker and that's almost enough to get me to plan a return to London next October!

And since I can't do a post without criticizing something, how come the department can come up with pages with information about London and nearby attractions for the conference site but can't have that information available permanently on the FIMS web site for future students and others? 

—
Call for Papers

Library Research Seminar IV

London, Ontario

October 10-12, 2007

http://lrs4.fims.uwo.ca



Theme:  The Library in Its Socio-Cultural Context: Issues for Research and
Practice



Abstracts of 600-800 words, including references, are due by February 1,
2007 to the Conference Chair, Dr. Gloria Leckie (address noted below).



It is a longstanding truism that for too long, too much library research has
been focused inward, on practices, means, and ends articulated in our own
logic and language. Research which accounts for the social and cultural

contexts of libraries is much needed and will expand this horizon by more
fully integrating the insights and methods of other fields to inform library
practices and research, with a view to improving service to users. Libraries
do not stand outside of their communities, schools, universities or

organizations – and those institutional contexts are themselves powerfully
affected by the social and cultural contexts of the societies they inhabit.



The goal of Library Research Seminar IV is to stimulate and share research
on libraries and the people who might benefit from them, utilizing many
disciplinary perspectives which allow for analysis and insights into
libraries in their various contexts. For example, the context of school

reform efforts like No Child Left Behind powerfully affects the direction,
funding, relationship to curricula of school libraries, and library research
should address the fiscal, ethical, or educational implications of this
context.



We invite papers that critically explore:

– the intellectual contexts that inform library research and practice

– the local, community contexts that shape the development and
implementation of library programs and services

– the policy issues and general social forces shaping libraries

– the broad cultural trends affecting libraries

– multi- or interdisciplinary perspectives on the everyday contexts of
libraries affecting their collections, services, budgets, user groups,
external relations etc.



Conference Chair

Dr. Gloria Leckie

Faculty of Information and Media Studies

The University of Western Ontario

North Campus Building, Room 240

London, ON N6A 5B7

Canada



E-Mail: leckie@uwo.ca

Fax: 519-661-3506

Web:  http://lrs4.fims.uwo.ca