Education and Training Section joins with the Science and Technology Libraries Section and the Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section.

Theme: "Tricks of the Trade of a Data Librarian: Learning it ALL"

Proposals are invited by the following IFLA Sections:  Science and Technology Libraries Section, Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section and the Education and Training Section for papers to be presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 24-30 August 2018.

Data continues to grow in importance and is a critical service point in how libraries are working with researchers to make available their data and findings. Not inconsequential is how the library must adapt to this new environment. The role of the data scientist expands as archiving and protecting the data becomes more central in publishing and accessing data.  New library services are evolving to promote the finding and processing of, citing to and preserving data.  These services require new skills and collaboration among library staff to work with both researchers and end-users as they manage and ultimately repurpose data going forward.  This session will explore how libraries are addressing the needs for scientific data management and curation.  It will explore the need to create appropriate service points, integrating with existing workflows and training of library staff to fulfill these needs.  The role of a data librarian is expected to only intensify in research environments.  This call is to invite librarians to share at the IFLA 2018 WLIC case studies and how their libraries are defining and incorporating the role of the data librarian.

There are different aspects to this topic: data literacy, data management, data curation, data services, and any host of other threads. In relation to how different libraries are filling staffing needs for data expertise, creating services around data literacy and data management, we are inviting submissions that pertain to any of the following areas:

  • Successful approaches, case studies and examples by libraries that have created training modules for library staff focused on data literacy and data services
  • Expectations for staff related to data management and services
  • Institutional changes to accommodate data librarianship in staffing, coverage, organizational change and related structures required to launch a data services program
  • Tools and resources that have been central to building out a data services program
  • Promotional strategies that have aided the growth and adoption of data librarianship
  • Assessment measures and methods to evaluate and assess efforts underway
  • Library partnerships that have participated in launching data programs in libraries
  • How Library Schools and Continuing Education providers develop curriculum and training for skills for future generations of data librarians

Submission Guidelines

All submissions must be original, previously unpublished work, and abstracts must be in ENGLISH but the full paper when accepted may be in any of IFLA’s official languages.  Abstracts must include:

  • Title of proposed presentation
  • Abstract of the proposed paper (no more than 500 words)
  • Name (s) of presenter(s) plus position/s and/or title(s)
  • Language of presentation
  • Employer/affiliated institution
  • Contact information including eMail address, telephone number(s)
  • Short biographical statement of presenter(s) (no more than 100 words)

Submissions

Please submit abstracts by 8 March 2018 as an attachment in MS Word to:

Julia Gelfand
Email: jgelfand@uci.edu

Receipt of all submissions will be confirmed.

Selection of papers is based on the abstract and presenters will be notified whether they have been successful by 1 April 2018.  Completed papers must be submitted no later than 1 June 2018.

Important Dates:

8 March 2018 – Submission of Abstract

1 April 2018 – Notifications sent to authors

1 June 2018 – Submission of full paper due

We eagerly await your contributions!

Please note

At least one of the paper’s authors must be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the program in Malaysia. Abstracts should only be submitted with the understanding that the expenses of attending the conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.

All papers that are presented at the WLIC 2018 will be made available online via the IFLA Library under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Authors’ Permission Form.

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation letter can be issued to authors.

Congress Participation Grants

List of opportunities for support is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.