Information Technology Section

Date

13-14 August 2015

Venue

Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

The Information Technology Section is seeking proposals for papers at a 2 day Satellite Conference at Stellenbosch University preceding the 2015 IFLA congress at Cape Town.

Libraries have been early innovators and adopters of open source. The Koha library management system is now 15 years old.   DSpace is 12 years old. Both are widely implemented in institutions of all sorts, and debate has largely moved beyond the question of whether open source is good for libraries to when and how to implement it and new generations of open source that are emerging. Projects such as DSpace, Hydra and Kuali include multi-institution collaboration as a method for project funding and support, while Koha as built a rich, diverse community of contributors around the world. Wide adoption of open source has encouraged innovative approaches to open source in all aspects of library operation.

The conference will comprise 4 concurrent workshops on the first day and a full day of papers on the second. Technology section is seeking proposals for papers that reflect the current state of open source in Libraries, with themes in the areas of:

• Innovations in open source that have imminent adoption
• Approaches to regional and collaborative support for open source, and case studies in the open source value proposition
• Case studies in open source projects, especially where they have resulted in established systems and networks of support
• Open source as it affects open access, big data or other critical areas highlighted by the 2012 IFLA Trends Report.

Papers presenting innovative projects, experience, initiatives or services with a strong collaborative cross-border or international dimension are particularly welcome and will be prioritised.

Papers should reflect the conference theme, Dynamic Libraries: Access, Development and Transformation. Presenters will have 30 minutes to present their paper during the session. Proceedings from the conference may be published after the event.

For information on IFLA’s general guidelines for papers see: http://conference.ifla.org/past/2013/general-guidelines-for-authors-of-papers.htm

Language of the sessions: English

Important dates and submission details

Deadline to submit abstracts 15 December 2014 extended to: 15 February 2015

Proposals should include:

• Title of proposed presentation
• Abstract of proposed paper (no more than 300 words)
• Name(s) of presenter(s) plus position and/or title
• Employer / affiliated institution
• Contact information including e-mail address, telephone number
• Short biographical statement of presenter(s)
• Language of final presentation

Send proposals by email to with a subject prefix of  IFLAOPEN  abstract  to:

Edmund Balnaves ebalnaves@prosentient.com.au and Wouter Klapwijk  wklap@sun.ac.za

- 6 March 2015:

Proposals will be reviewed and successful candidates will be notified.

- June 2015:

Deadline for selected presenters to submit formal paper (for inclusion on the IFLA conference website and the Section’s website). Details regarding the format and length of the final paper will be sent to candidates whose abstracts are accepted.

Please note:

At least one of the paper's authors must be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the Satellite conference at Stellenbosch University.  Abstracts should only be submitted with the understanding that the expenses of attending the satellite conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.   It is our expectation at this point that registration will be free.

Authors of accepted presentations will be requested to agree to publication of their paper in the IFLA library under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported licence (CC BY 3.0) to their work.

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 or the sponsoring sections, but a special invitation can be issued to authors/presenters if that is required.