Call for Papers

Asia and Oceania Section

Theme:
Innovative Libraries: Transforming Our Communities

العربية

The IFLA Asia and Oceania Section is seeking proposals for papers to be presented at a two-hour program to be held at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Helsinki, Finland in August 2011.  This session focuses on recent innovations in libraries and other information agencies in the Asia and Oceania region, and the transformative effects that these innovations are having on communities.  Cambridge Dictionaries Online defines an innovation as "(the use of) a new idea or method".

In keeping with the conference's overall theme, 'Libraries Now! ? Inspiring, Surprising, Empowering', the Asia and Oceania session focuses on the transformative power of library resources and services. We seek papers that describe the most innovative new resources and services offered by Asia-Oceania libraries and information agencies, and that provide evidence of how those innovations are inspiring, surprising or empowering individuals and groups within the community.

Topics for this session can focus on any aspect of a recent innovation in libraries and information agencies, but must also demonstrate its transformative impacts. Examples of recent innovations in libraries for this session include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • A partnership with a non-government organisation to teach people in prisons to read and write, and enabling them to participate more fully as productive members of society;
  • A new outreach service based on social networking tools which has enabled the library to be more inclusive for disabled members of the community;
  • A digital literacy workshop that has helped unemployed individuals within the community to develop new skills and gain employment;
  • A service that has assisted school teachers to develop new learning activities in their courses to foster information literacy competencies that have helped students raise their performance levels;
  • A new information service for the local business community that has resulted in the expansion of local companies and the hiring of new staff;
  • An outreach programme that has inspired elderly members of the community to contribute their stories to oral history collections for use by school children;
  • A room within the library building dedicated to teenagers who come in to listen to pop music and are surprised to find other library resources relevant to their interests;
  • A digital library focusing on minority groups within the community that has allowed them to input cultural and historical material directly via the Internet to preserve it and make it accessible to the wider community;
  • A cooperative project among a group of libraries that have used open source software to help members of their communities to overcome the digital divide.

Submission guidelines

  1. The deadline for submitting a detailed abstract (500 words) and full author details is 18 January 2012. Selection of papers is based on the abstract, and presenters will be notified whether they have been successful before the end of February 2012.
  2. The full paper is due on 1 May 2012 and must be an original submission not presented or published elsewhere.
  3. Both abstracts and full papers should be submitted as a MS Word file by e-mail. Fax or post should be used only as a last resort.
  4. Papers should be of 20 pages maximum, double spaced.
  5. Papers should be in English with an abstract, and the presenter (who need not be the author) must be fluent in English.
  6. 20 minutes will be allowed for a summary delivery of the paper in the Conference; the full written paper is not to be read.
  7. The author(s) should indicate his/her personal full contact details and include a brief biographical note with the paper. Also, a digital photograph would be useful.

Selection

Full abstracts (500 words) should be prepared following the template provided below. Each abstract will be blind reviewed by members of the Regional Standing Committee for Asia and Oceania.

Abbreviated abstracts or late submissions will not be considered.

Purpose of this paper What are the reason(s) for writing the paper (or the aims of the research)?
Design/methodology/approach How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the study. What is the approach to the topic, and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper?
Findings What was found in the course of the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results.
Research limitations/implications
(if applicable) 		If research is reported on in the paper, this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process.
Practical implications
(if applicable) 		What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified? All papers should have practical applications. What changes to practice might be made as a result of this research/paper?
What is original/value of paper

What is new in the paper? State the value of the paper and to whom.

Please send your abstract by 18 January 2012 to:
Dr. Dan Dorner, RSCAO Chair
Email: dan.dorner@vuw.ac.nz
AND
Dr. Chihfeng Lin, RSCAO Secretary
Email: chihfeng@cc.shu.edu.tw

Submissions

All proposals must be in before 18 January 2012.

Please note

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 can be issued to authors.

Congress Attendance Grants

The Finnish National Committee and IFLA have worked hard to secure funds for Conference Participation Grants. Up-to-date information is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.

Last update: 13 January 2012