Theme: User Experience (UX) and Social Science Libraries in the Digital Age

The Social Science Libraries in the 21st century collect and provide access to information resources to promote economic development and to empower citizens for a participatory society. The digital age has rapidly transformed the way information is organized, delivered, accessed, and used throughout the academic, business and information world. Furthermore, the advent of the web 2.0 technologies and services using social networking tools, mobile applications, online education, and open source information materials, are increasingly redefining the dynamics of how people learn, access, present and process information onsite and remotely. Thus understanding the nature, provenance and scope of information and how users interact with this information ecosystem should inform the conceptual framework and the practice of social science libraries. In the role of collaborator and stewards of information, the Social Science Libraries have evolved from the service model established in print-only era. Crucial areas to take into consideration include commitment to open access to information in support to enable social participation for national development, focus on capacity building for social change, emergence of interdisciplinary investigations, data related methodologies and tools, and the role of social media and Web 2.0 connecting the users with the libraries. In addition to specific practices that impact library operations, we invite theoretical framework on what constitute social science libraries in the 21st century and perspectives from different global regions.

We invite applications for a panel presentation from librarians and library educators whose projects explore aspects of our theme. Such studies may focus on specific time period(s) or geographical location(s). Possible topics relevant to the program theme might explore:

• Formal and informal practices reconfiguring social science library operations addressing user experience
• Open access initiatives and institutional repositories
• Use of social media and Web 2.0 as new channels to connect with stakeholders
• Dynamic online collections and its impact on library operations
• Hiring practices and capacity building
• New areas of growth for the social science libraries; for example collaboration between libraries and government development initiatives.
• New literacies for social sciences
• Archival issues of social media

Proposal Submission

Proposals should include:
• An abstract of paper (approximately 500 words).
• A summary of the author(s) details (name, institution, position, email) and brief biographical statement of no more than 50 words.

Proposals should be submitted electronically to Kayo Denda (kdenda@rutgers.edu) no later than March 1, 2016 and indicate ‘IFLA proposal’ in the subject line. Selected presenters will be notified by March 15, 2016.

Papers should reflect the 2016 conference theme “Connections. Collaboration. Community.”

Full papers

The deadline for the final version of the full papers accepted for the session is May 1, 2016. Papers should be in English (or in one of the official IFLA languages, with an English translation attached). The language of the session will be English. Presenters will have 20 minutes in the program session to deliver their papers, and time will be allowed for an open forum to allow audience interaction.

Please note that the Program Committee has no funds to assist prospective authors: abstracts should only be submitted on the understanding that the expenses of the attending the Columbus conference (including travel, lodging expenses and conference fee) will be the responsibility of the authors(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers. At least one author will be expected to attend conference to deliver the paper. Some national professional associations may be able to help fund certain expenses, and a small number of grants for conference may be available at: http://www.ifla.org/funds-grants-awards