Head Tale

It's short notice but if you have a paper you're particularly proud of, it's worth submitting to this journal – Canadian, open access, peer-reviewed – all of the good stuff.  I'm going to send in something – wish me luck! 

—
Partnership:
the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research

The editorial board would like to express its thanks to those of
you who have already submitted articles and we will contact you with further
details soon.  From our many conversations with colleagues we realize
extending the deadline for papers until the end of the summer will provide much
needed time to finish up current research and writing. 

 

Therefore, we are extending the call for submissions to
the peer-reviewed sections: Innovations in Practice and Theory and Research.
Deadline for submissions is now August 31,
2006.

 

We are also looking for colleagues interested in participating as
peer reviewers, writing mentors, and book/media reviewers.  If you are
interested in any of these roles, please contact me with a brief note
describing your interests and experience as well as your curriculum vitae.

 

In addition to our peer-reviewed sections: Innovations in Practice
and Theory and Research, our journal will include a regular column on
professional development ideas, news, reviews, highlights of recent conference
sessions and spotlights on members of our associations from up and comers to
our most decorated award winners.  If you have an idea or suggestion,
please contact me or the executive director or president of your library
association.   

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

Partnership: the Canadian Journal
of Library and Information Practice and Research

Scope:

This electronic journal is a practitioner’s journal
of The Partnership published twice a year. Articles may be contributed at any
time for publication consideration. Potential articles are reviewed by members
of an editorial review committee. Articles fall into several categories.
Feature articles on theory & research and on innovations in practice are
in-depth, peer-reviewed articles and fall in the range of 1,000 to 5,000 words.
Other types of articles include viewpoints, conference presentations, profiles,
news & announcements, professional development and reviews.

 

Sections:

 

Feature Articles:

 

Theory and
Research

May include, but are not limited
to, theoretical issues surrounding philosophies, policies and trends in all
types of library and information environments.  Research articles can be
either quantitative or qualitative in nature. Empirical models (evidence-based
or experimental techniques) and exploratory models of investigation are
welcome.  Articles should be 1500-5000 words and will be subject to a
double blind peer review process.

 

Section editor: Heather Morrison

 

Innovations in
Practice

This section will publish articles of
1000-4000 words that describe new initiatives and analyze their outcomes. Let
others know how you put your best ideas into practice, and what lessons can be
learned from the experience. Articles should include enough background to
create a context for the general reader, and local acronyms and specialized
terminology should be kept to a minimum or clearly explained.

 

Section Editor: Lorie Kloda

 

Professional
Development:

This will be a regular column that features
short reviews or highlights of new resources, projects, web tools or other
areas with a goal of providing current awareness for professional development.
While the section will have an editor, guest experts will be sought by the
editor so each column will be on a theme – i.e. Update on Scholarly
Communication, New Blogging Tools, etc.

 

Section Editor: Heather Matheson

 

Profiles:

This section will feature short
profiles of practitioners in the LIS field. It will showcase well-known and
not-so-well-known librarians and information professionals who have made a
difference with their work. Each submission should include brief biographical
information on the practitioners, details of their notable endeavor, and should
be approximately 300-500 words in length.

 

Section Editor: Virginia Wilson

 

Viewpoints:

This section allows for the
expression of opinions or viewpoints on current or topical issues in the
library and information profession.  The pieces would be relatively short
in length and should engage the reader (call to action, identifying issues not
to be ignored). The section could be a vehicle for The Partnership, either the
Board or for the Presidents or Directors of the associations involved. 
Open to any information professional with a strong and engaging viewpoint.

 

Section Editor: Catherine Steeves

 

 

News and
Announcements:

What went on, what’s going on
and what’s happened to whom. A News & Announcement article briefly
describes things such as an award received, a new library, a new appointment,
or research in progress.

 

Section Editor: TBA

 

Leading Lights:

These contributions, based on
presentations at Canadian library or library-related conferences, may be
nominated by anyone in the library community at large.  Submissions could
also be recommended by members of the Editorial Board.  Presenters will be
contacted and invited to prepare and send a submission for
peer-review.   Up to three items will ultimately be selected by the
Leading Lights Editor for any issue. Topics may range from theoretical to
technological highlights to view points to new practices.  The format may
also range widely including but not limited to videorecordings, online posters
and formal papers.  The length of the article will be guided by the
format.  Text-based submissions should be 1,000 to 4,000 words. 
Videorecordings would normally be 15 to 60 minutes.  International
presenters are welcome.

 

Section Editor: Cynthia Archer

 

Media/Publication
Reviews:

The purpose of the reviews section is
to provide critical appraisals of new print and non-print resources that will
assist readers of the Journal in selecting works for their own professional use
or addition to their library collections.  Reviewers are chosen on the
basis of their knowledge and experience in areas of relevance in the library
and information world.

 

Section Editor: Michael Hohner

 

Peer Review Process

Articles
featured in the Research and Theory and Innovation in Practice sections will
peer reviewed using a double blind process. A pool of reviewers will be
assembled by the Editorial Board through contacts with all of the Provincial
and Territorial Library Associations.

All other submissions will be vetted through the section editors.

 

Publication Frequency

The
Journal will be published twice per year. Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer.

 

Open Access Policy

This
Journal is fully open access, completely available to anyone, anywhere, as soon
as it is published, and in perpetuity. Creative Commons License: read Creative Commons Canada

http://creativecommons.ca/
 Attribution – Noncommercial – No derivates

For
more information contact:
Jennifer Richard
Editor in Chief

Vaughan Memorial Library
Acadia University
Wolfville, NS
B4P 2R6
Tel: 902-585-1403
Fax: 902-585-1748
Email: jennifer.richard@acadiau.ca

The guy who runs Metafilter and AskMetafilter has added a few new features recently including the ability to see who have marked either your posts or comments as their favourites. 

I was kind of surprised to see that one question I asked requesting people describe their “perfect moments” (what someone else compared to Maslow's “peak experiences”) had been marked by five people as a favourite even though the question pre-dates the implementation of these new features by a couple years. 

Ask MetaFilter is a great resource for answering questions and librarians could probably learn a bit about dealing with reference questions by how it works (for example, why do so few “Ask A Librarian” programs fail to archive successful answers on their web sites?  Why do they not open up the answers to the community-at-large rather than relying on their own singular or limited team expertise?  Hmmm, I think I smell a paper in there somewhere!) 

Metafilter's creator tends to frown on “chatty” questions like the one I asked but these types also tend to get the most/best responses.  Another similar one about “defining childhood memories” is stunning in what people share about themselves, both positive and negative.