LGBTQ Users Special Interest Group

According to the Lyon Declaration, sustainable development must take place within a human-rights based framework, which relies on equitable access to information and freedom of expression. What does this mean in terms serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) library users? How do librarians enable equitable access to information of interest and importance to LGBTQ individuals and groups? How is freedom of expression represented in library services and collections?  

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Users Special Interest Group seeks submissions from scholars emphasizing access to information and freedom of expression linked to LGBTQ library services.

Discussions may emphasize areas such as:  

• LGBTQ special collections
• Library as safe space
• Library service to LGBTQ patrons in Africa
• Library service to rainbow families
• Outreach/partnerships with community organizations
• Promoting inclusive access

Academic, public, school, special librarians, and other professionals are encouraged to respond to the CFP in order to share insights and approaches with the larger library community at the World Library and Information Congress in Cape Town, South Africa.

Presenters are expected to prepare a formal paper as well as a PowerPoint presentation. In unusual cases when this is not possible, speakers will prepare a substantial abstract, including references with URLs and bibliographies, to accompany their presentation. Selected works will have abstracts and links to full papers on the conference website. Papers and presentations can be made in any of the official IFLA languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, but an accompanying translation of all papers into English must be provided.  Attempts will be made to provide translations into other official languages.

Important Dates

31 January 2015

Deadline for submitting 300 word proposals for papers/presentations plus a brief biographical statement of speaker(s). Information should include: title of presentation; abstract; all authors, noting likely presenter; institutional affiliations; contact information, including all email addresses.

28 February 2015

Announcement of final program and communication with all who submit proposals. IFLA HQ notified of outcome from call.

1 May 2015

Deadline for submission of final paper. Papers should be no more than 3,000 words.

30 June 2015

Deadline for all PowerPoint presentations from speakers.

June/July 2015

Speakers will be notified of the time of the program.

Notes:

• Proposals will be reviewed by a jury composed of members of the LGBTQ Users SIG, generously being hosted by the Acquisitions and Collection Development Section.

In accordance with IFLA's Open Access Statement all papers presented at the WLIC 2015 will be available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. All papers that are presented at the WLIC 2015 will be made available online via the IFLA Library. Authors will need to sign IFLA’s Author form.

All submissions and any questions should be sent via email to: ifla.lgbtq@gmail.com by 31 January 2015. Receipt of all submissions will be acknowledged.