Category Archives: Advice About Publishing

Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL) 2016

We are issuing a call for applications for the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL) 2016. We are seeking novice librarian researchers who are employed by academic libraries or research libraries outside an academic setting in the United States to participate in the Institute. Novice researchers typically may have conducted research but have not yet had a peer-reviewed article published as the primary author or had an individual presentation accepted by a peer-reviewed conference. We define “novice” broadly; if you feel that you would benefit from being guided throughout the entire research design process, we encourage your application. Librarians of all levels of professional experience are welcome to apply. IRDL 2016 will be held on June 6-16, 2016, with arrival on campus on Sunday, June 5, and departure on Friday, June 17.
 
The William H. Hannon Library has received a three-year grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to offer this continuing education opportunity for academic and research librarians. Each year 21 librarians receive, at no cost to them, instruction in research design and a full year of peer/mentor support to complete a research project at their home institutions; the learning experience, travel to and from Los Angeles, CA, accommodations, and food will be supplied to Scholars free of charge. The summer IRDL workshop is supplemented with pre-Institute learning activities and a peer learning network that provides ongoing support. The workshop will be held on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. For more information about the project, including the project partners, the San José State University School of Information and the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC), please see the project website:  http://irdlonline.org.
 
IRDL seeks librarians with a passion for research and a desire to improve their research skills. IRDL is designed to bring together all that the literature tells us about the necessary conditions for librarians to conduct valid and reliable research in an institutional setting. The cohort will be chosen from a selective submission process, with an emphasis on enthusiasm for research and diversity from a variety of perspectives, including ethnicity and type and size of library. 
 
Selection criteria:
  • Commitment to the year-long process of communicating with other participants and conducting the proposed study within the 2016-2017 academic year;
  •  Significance of the research problem to the operational success of the applicant’s library or to the profession of librarianship;
  •  Thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and clarity of the research proposal;
  • Enthusiasm for research and a desire to learn.
 
Applications for IRDL 2016 will be accepted from December 1, 2015 to February 1, 2016. Scholars accepted to the Institute will be notified in early April, 2016.
 
Please contact Project Directors with any questions about the Institute or the application process: 
Kristine Brancolini, Dean of the Library, Loyola Marymount University (brancoli@lmu.edu
Marie Kennedy, Serials & Electronic Resources Librarian, Loyola Marymount University (
marie.kennedy@lmu.edu)
 
“IRDL not only set me on the path to producing and properly documenting original research, but it set me up with a network of like-minded Librarians who will help me achieve my goals.” — 2014 IRDL Scholar

The Queensborough Community College Library, CUNY and ACRL/NY invite you to an Academic Publishing Workshop (professional development opportunity not a call for papers)

Date:  Friday, November 21, 2014

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Place:  Queensborough Community College, CUNY

Kurt R. Schmeller Library

222-05 56th Ave., Room 302

Bayside, NY  11364

Are you new to the academic publishing world?

Have you completed a conference presentation, research, or teaching

project that you would like to turn into a publishable article?

Are you just beginning your research and have a project in mind for which

you need to develop a literature review for your article?

This workshop will provide resources to help begin preparing your scholarly article for publication. It will provide you with resources to help you develop a literature review on your topic, assist you with selecting a journal to publish your article, and provide tips on sending your article in for publication. You will also look at common reasons why journals reject articles, and gain hands-on experience with using the Library’s resources.

***  Hands-on time to start your research and print out articles will be part of the  Workshop.

Join Dr. Barbara Bonous-Smit and Prof. Suzy Sciammarella for a Library Workshop on  academic publishing.

 

Directions to Queensborough Community College: http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/academicLiteracy/literacy/directions.html

 

RSVP:  SSciammarella@qcc.cuny.edu

What do I do when my article gets rejected or I get a revise and resubmit?

A colleague just asked something about getting a revise and resubmit answer to an article submission.  This is something I am asked fairly often so I thought it might be a good time to post my advice about this for others who might want to know what to do.

A revise and resubmit can be a good thing, after all it is not an outright rejection and hold on for a minute, there might be some ideas from the reviewer that will actually make your article better. Even a rejection can serve this purpose.

That said, take the time to mourn the rejection of  your  “research child” and get over any anger at insensitve comments. (Yes,  some reviewers can be cruel, ignorant and down right mean, in the best of worlds that would not be allowed but for some reason there are people who can’t seem to be courteous and focus on constructive criticism. You have right to be angry at them but don’t let that spoil your good work.) You have spent a lot of time on this article/presentation and you have nutured it from the time it was a baby idea, growing it in your brain, revising it based on your discussions with people and your experiences. You have good product, look at this as an opportunity to make it even better!

What you need to do next is, once you have taken time to grieve and vent,  reread their suggestions and implement them as you need to.  Sometimes they are more minor than they appeared when you read them the first time. No matter how complex, work through them and see how you can address them making the appropriate changes.  If there is something they totally didn’t get and you are right, contact the editor and ask them how to handle it. (Like the time a reviewer who told me my subject size was too small on a qualitative project when it was actually appropriate.)

Once you are done, have someone else read the article (good advice for anyone before you send anything out-it doesn’t need to be an expert in the field, someone you know like a friend, spouse, partner, any colleague can do it because they can tell you if what you wrote actually makes sense and they may even catch grammar or punctuation mistakes).

All done with these things… RESUBMIT it (or submit it to another venue if it was a rejection or if  you have found out something negative about the acceptance policies of the current journal).

Then… consign its fate to the universe, know that you did your best work, kick back, have your favorite beverage, go play with your kids, animals, do something fun with a partner, spouse, friend or by yourself and forget about it until they contact you again (most likely with an acceptance)!

 

Dolores List of CFPs is moving to http://sites.psu.edu/doloreslistofcfps/

Penn State is migrating its blogs to a new location so as of July 29, 2014 this blog will be moving to

https://sites.psu.edu/doloreslistofcfps/

 

It will still be the same blog with lots of calls for presentations and papers. Plus it will have a whole new look!  See you there!

Poster Presentations – Designing Effective Posters

Fred Stoss from SUNY Buffalo has created a web site that contains wonderful advice about how to create good poster presentations. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who is creating poster presentations.

http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/bio/posters.html

Research Writer’s Consultations at the ALA Annual meeting

The ACRL Research Program Committee (RPC) is once again sponsoring Research Writer’s Consultations at the ALA Annual meeting, held June 22, 2012June 26, 2012 in Anaheim, California.  Aimed at the new or inexperienced writer, the Research Writer’s Consultations will pair new or inexperienced writers with an experienced writer or editor, who will offer guidance and critique.

AUTHORS
Are you an ACRL member working on a research article? Would you like some constructive feedback? Submit a draft research paper for consultation. RPC will match new writers with experienced writers and the pairs will meet face-to-face during the ALA Midwinter meeting. Draft research papers must be submitted by June 15, 2012. Papers will be shared only among the designated pairs. Submission details follow:

Include on first page: Author’s name and contact information in upper left and a paragraph describing what you would like others to comment on about your paper (e.g., grammar, writing style, clarity, presentation of the research methodology).

Page limit: 25 double-spaced pages, standard 1″ margins.

Preferred format: Microsoft Word. Number pages. Footers should include author’s full name and e-mail.

Draft research papers should be in complete enough form for others to read easily.

Submit by June 15, 2012 to: Cheryl Middleton<mailto:Cheryl.Middleton@oregonstate.edu>.

REVIEWERS
Are you an experienced, published writer or editor? Interested in providing guidance to your colleagues who may be writing their first research article? Submit your name and a description of your areas of expertise by January 11, 2012 Reviewers are expected to review papers submitted by the writer they have been paired with in advance of the ALA Midwinter meeting, as well as guide the writing consultation onsite during the meeting.

Please send your current contact information, a copy of your current resume or list of publications, and a brief description of your current research interests.

Submit by June 8, 2012 to: Cheryl Middleton<mailto:Cheryl.Middleton@oregonstate.edu>.

MEET DURING ALA 2012 Annual
The experienced writer/editor and the writer they have been paired with will correspond ahead of time to determine the best time to meet at the meeting.

Questions should be directed to Cheryl Middleton<mailto:Cheryl.Middleton@oregonstate.edu>.

ACRL Research Writer’s Consultations @ ALA Mid-Winter

Dallas, TX, January 20-24, 2012


The ACRL Research Program Committee (RPC) is once again sponsoring Research Writer’s Consultations at the ALA Mid-Winter Conference, held June January 20-24, 2012 in Dallas, TX.  Aimed at the new or inexperienced writer, the Research Writer’s Consultations will pair new or inexperienced writers with an experienced writer or editor, who will offer guidance and critique.

 

AUTHORS


Are you an ACRL member working on a research article? Would you like some constructive feedback? Submit a draft research paper for consultation. RPC will match new writers with experienced writers and the pairs will meet face-to-face during the ACRL conference. Draft research papers must be submitted by January 9, 2011. Papers will be shared only among the designated pairs. Submission details follow:

 

Include on first page: Author’s name and contact information in upper left and a paragraph describing what you would like others to comment on about your paper (e.g., grammar, writing style, clarity, presentation of the research methodology).

 

Page limit:  25 double-spaced pages, standard 1″ margins

 

Preferred format:  Microsoft Word. Number pages. Footers should include author’s full name and e-mail.

 

Draft research papers should be in complete enough form for others to read easily.

 

Submit by January 9, 2011 to: Cheryl Middleton at Cheryl.Middleton@oregonstate.edu

 

REVIEWERS


Are you an experienced, published writer or editor? Interested in providing guidance to your colleagues who may be writing their first research article? Submit your name and a description of your areas of expertise by June 14, 2011. Reviewers are expected to review papers submitted by the writer they have been paired with in advance of the ALA Annual Conference, as well as guide the writing consultation onsite during the conference. 

 

Please send your current contact information, a copy of your current resume or list of publications, and a brief description of your current research interests.

 

Submit by January 11, 2011 to: Cheryl Middleton at Cheryl.Middleton@oregonstate.edu

 

MEET DURING ALA 2011 Annual Conference


The experienced writer/editor and the writer they have been paired with will correspond ahead of time to determine the best time to meet at the conference. 

 

Questions should be directed to Cheryl Middleton Cheryl.Middleton@oregonstate.edu

Getting started on a research project

I was just asked about how I approach research or research projects so I thought I would share some of my answer on the blog in case it is helpful for others. Here is an outline of what I do:

 

The first step is to look at what interests me for a topic.

1.      Do I have a question that needs to be answered for something I am doing at work? For ex. I explored how middle age and older women learn technology because I was constantly training women of that age in libraries how to use computers, etc. and I wanted to know how best to do that, what would be most meaningful from their point of view.

2.      I explore things that interest me. I once did a paper for an ethics class on ” just war theory” because it was at the time when the US had gone to war for the first time in Iraq and I was personally grappling with when is it or is it not ok to go to war. Learning about “just war theory” gave me insights about the topic.

3.       I look at other projects I have done that may have generated additional questions after I did the study. For example: Dr. Valerie Bell and I did a study on how student teachers use computers and technology in the classroom. As a result of our findings we started to ask about how the student teacher supervisor may or may not be an influence in the student teacher’s use of technology and whether, if the supervisor was not a strong technology advocate, they became influenced by a student teacher who used technology so we did a second study on that.

4.      Look at trends in your profession or new initiatives at work for something you want to explore. An example of this is the current project I am working on with Dr. Ron Musoleno on implementing kindles and ipads in the college classroom.

5.      If I have read something in a professional article or heard a presentation and it brings up important questions in my mind I explore that.

 

Having formulated a question I want to answer or decided on a topic I usually do a concept map of what I know about the topic. You can do this on paper or use Inspiration software (http://www.inspiration.com/) or Webspiration (http://www.mywebspiration.com/)

or other mindmapping software. This can then be turned into an outline of what you want to cover. I will come back to this as I work on the project and add to the concept map as I gain new insights. I like concept maps better than outlines as they allow you to think more broadly not requiring a linear mindset.

 

Once I have chosen the topic and have some basic concepts in the mindmap I do a first swipe at a literature review, using library databases, books and authoritative web sites ( for example education sites like ISTE or ASCD) to gain background on the topic and begin to come up with a basic structure for the project. I also talk to colleagues or others to get their ideas about the topic.


I tend to do qualitative research so it I devise the study developing questions for interviews or questionnaires, etc. based on my lit review and knowledge of the topic.  I tend to use grounded theory, bringing the theory out of the data. I code the data and then use thematic content analysis to get at themes in the data and then bring theory out of the data (grounded theory).
Two of the qualitative theories I like to work with for the analysis are symbolic interactionism and portraiture. If you are interested in qualitative research I would recommend checking out:

 

Denzin, Norman K. 2008. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. Sage Publications.

 

Marshall, Catherine. 2011. Designing qualitative research. Sage Publications.

 

Patton, Michael Quinn. 2002. Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Sage

Publications.

 

You may also want to look up the work of Yvonna Lincoln and Egon Guba..

 

 There are a number of others who are good on this topic but these are some good starters.

 

I tend not to use software to analyze my data but I am experimenting with Dragonspeak software (http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm) to see how it works with transcribing tapes of interviews. I do try to digitally audio tape all interviews.

 

When I have the analysis complete I write the article or create a presentation. I always go back and check the lit review as I am working on the paper as there are often new materials published  on the topic or pieces of information or findings I didn’t know about when I did the first lit review. It is sometimes good to present the material before you write an article so you can get feedback from others. If you are doing something you are going to submit to a journal you should always have someone else read it before you send it out.

 

ACRL Research Writer’s Consultations @ ACRL 2011 National Conference

The ACRL Research Program Committee (RPC) is once again sponsoring Research Writer’s Consultations at the ACRL National Conference, held March 30 – April 2 in Philadelphia.  Aimed at the new or inexperienced writer, the Research Writer’s Consultations will bring together small groups of two to three writers matched with an experienced writer or editor, who will offer guidance and critique.

 

AUTHORS
Are you an ACRL member working on a research article? Would you like some constructive feedback? Submit a draft research paper for consultation. RPC will match new writers with experienced writers and the groups will meet face-to-face during the ACRL conference. Draft research papers must be submitted by March 22. Papers will be shared only among members of the designated groups. Submission details follow:

 

Include on first page: Author’s name and contact information in upper left and a paragraph describing what you would like others to comment on about your paper (e.g,. grammar, writing style, clarity, presentation of the research methodology).

 

Page limit:  25 double-spaced pages, standard 1″ margins

 

Preferred format:  Microsoft Word. Number pages. Footers should include author’s full name and e-mail.

 

Draft research papers should be in complete enough form for others to read easily.

 

Submit by March 22 to: Sheril Hook at sheril.hook@utoronto.ca

 

REVIEWERS
Are you an experienced, published writer or editor? Interested in providing guidance to your colleagues who may be writing their first research article? Submit your name and a description of your areas of expertise by March 20, 2011. Reviewers are expected to review papers submitted for their small group in advance of the ACRL National Conference, as well as guide their small group consultation onsite during the conference. 

 

Please send your current contact information, a copy of your current resume or list of publications, and a brief description of your current research interests.

 

Submit by March 20 to: Sheril Hook at sheril.hook@utoronto.ca

 

MEET DURING ACRL 2011 NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Each group will correspond ahead of time to determine the best time to meet on Friday of the conference. A room has been reserved at the conference venue for consultations at the following times:  Friday April 1, 11am – 12pm or 4 – 5pm.

 

Questions should be directed to Sheril Hook at sheril.hook@utoronto.ca

PETE & C conference Forum on Publishing

Librarians,
 
The PETE & C conference will host the first Librarians Forum in Hershey on February 14, 2011.  Co-chaired by Dolores Fidishun and Lynn Moses, the Forum will include a double session featuring a workshop entitled “How To Write  Library Technology Articles So Journals Will Print Them AND People Will Read Them” followed by a box lunch.  We hope you will join us for this first-ever Forum designed for you.
 
Since this is the first time Librarians have had their own Forum, we need a tentative head count for the lunches.  This notice will be posted on several email lists, so please respond only ONCE.  Responses must be received by January 17, 2011.

For those who are not familiar with the conference the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C) is a statewide event that provides quality programs focused on technology in the educational field. You can find more information at http://www.peteandc.org/ .

 
If you are attending PETE &C and would like to come to the forum and lunch email Dr. Dolores Fidishun at dxfg19@psu.edu.
 
Thanks.  We looking forward to seeing you in Hershey!
 
 
Dolores and Lynn