Monthly Archives: November 2008

Can you open this for me? Using and Understanding Open Source Tools

RUSA MARS Hot Topics Discussion Group Committee is seeking presentation proposals from energetic public and academic librarians to speak at ALA’s midwinter conference in Denver on January 24, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. 

 

The committee is putting together a panel of speakers to discuss their experiences using open source tools or code to deliver, promote, or enhance library services and/or collections.  The title of the MARS Hot Topics session is  “Can you open this for me? Using and .”

 

Presenters will be limited to 10-15 minutes and must provide some type of handout to the audience attendees.  

 

If you are interested, please send your presentation proposal of 100 words or less to Michelle Jacobs, Chair of MARS Hot Topics at michellejacobs@library.ucla.edu by December 15, 2008.  If possible please include links to your library’s use of open source tools in the proposal.   The committee will make the decision about which proposals have been accepted by December 20, 2008.  Presenters accepted must be able to travel to Denver to present at the conference on January 24th.    For further information, contact Michelle Jacobs (michellejacobs@library.ucla.edu) or Sarah Lehmann (sarah.lehmann@gmail.com).

RM09: New Marxian Times

Call For Papers RETHINKING MARXISM: a journal of economics, culture & society is pleased to announce its 7th international conference, to be held at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst on 5-8 November 2009. RETHINKING MARXISM's six previous international conferences have each attracted more than 1000 students, scholars, and activists. They have included keynote addresses and plenary sessions, formal papers, roundtables, workshops, art exhibitions, video presentations, activist discussions, and cultural performances. Similar events are planned for the next international conference, RM09: New Marxian Times. RM09: New Marxian Times is dedicated to exploring the possibilities and challenges of Marxism for understanding and engaging with the contemporary world.  Neoliberal capitalism, long criticized by Marxists and others on the Left, is now going through its own long-term economic and social crises. What new possibilities do these crises create for Marxist and other progressive ideas and visions? How does Marxism, and left-wing thought more generally, need to be rethought to respond to these challenges? Decades of declining real wages with rising levels of exploitation and economic inequality, increasingly unaffordable energy costs, and a loss of the illusion of middle-class status characterize large parts of the world, in the North as well as the South.  Declining state support for social welfare programs, privatization and deregulation, record levels of migration of people, growing urban slums, and increasingly authoritarian state interventions in the lives of ordinary citizens have become the norm in the past two decades.  Concurrently, multiple environmental crises (from climate change and global warming to increasing food insecurity, water shortages and health challenges) have been receiving increased attention.  From the anti-elite sentiments expressed in response to the bailout of the financial industries to emerging anti-immigrant and nationalist efforts and ethnic and religious-based movements, average people are feeling both angrier and more insecure in response to current conditions.  And the elites have few if any answers to the economic and social crises that beset the existing national and international orders. Perhaps coalescing in the financial crisis acknowledged in the autumn of 2008, these dynamics represent both a significant crisis for currently constituted capitalism and modes of governance as well as a set of challenges and possibilities for all of us concerned with working towards a non-exploitative and more equitable world.  In that light, we are seeking intellectual, political, and cultural works that address the possible contributions that Marxist ideas and forms of analysis can make in responding to the challenges of these new times.  Human rights, democracy, environmental concerns, new organizing movements in South America and elsewhere throughout the globe, the growth of social activisms represented as anarchist, anti-imperialist, or in response to globalization, workers subjectivities and movements, contradictions within emerging and transitional economies, emergent nationalisms, and debt and the credit crises all represent possible areas for contributions to new thinking about the role of Marxist theories, cultures, and politics in todayʼs world.  We strongly encourage papers that address these topics in relation to the global south. Of course, we also understand the vital importance of analyzing history in order to help us to understand and respond to contemporary conditions.  To understand the new, we must reflect upon and learn from the old.  In that light, we are also interested in panels and papers that emphasize historical analysis such as the history of Marxism(s), labor history, historical analysis of academia, histories of social movements and political practices, the historical development of Marxist/Socialist feminism, imperialisms, and the historical relationships between class and race- based movements.  STRUCTURE OF THE CONFERENCE RM09: New Marxian Times will be held over four days, beginning on Thursday evening, 5 November 2009 and ending on Sunday afternoon, 8 November 2009. In addition to two plenary sessions and an art exhibition, there will be concurrent panels, workshops, and art/cultural events. We invite the submission of organized sessions that follow traditional or non-traditional formats (such as workshops, roundtables, and dialogue among and between presenters and audience) as well as individual presentations. Since Marxism covers a wide variety of fields, from literature to public health and forms of political practice, from environmental organizing to opposing global inequality and envisioning new economic and social practice, anyone engaging with Marxism in any discipline or form of activism is encouraged to submit paper and panel proposals. We encourage those working in areas that intersect with Marxism, such as critical race theory, feminism, political economy, anarchist studies, cultural and literary studies, queer theory, working-class and labor studies, postcolonial studies, geography and urban studies, psychoanalysis, social and natural sciences, philosophy, and around issues of class, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, and disability, to submit proposals. We also welcome video, poetry, performance, and all other modes of presentation and cultural expression. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS Proposals for papers, films, or other formats should include: * Paper title * Presenter's name and contact information (mail, email, phone, affiliations) * Brief abstract (no more than 200 words) * Technology needs for presentation Proposals for panels should include: * Panel title * Name, contact information, and paper title for each presenter * Brief abstract (no more than 200 words) explaining the panel's focus * Braiief abstract for each paper (no more than 200 words) * Names and contact information for any discussant(s) or respondent(s) * Technology needs of presenters * Title, contact, and address for any sponsoring organization or journal The appropriate preregistration fee must accompany all proposal submissions.. Unfortunately, any proposal not accompanied by the appropriate preregistration fee cannot be considered. Proposals that are not accepted will have their preregistration fees returned in full. If you are submitting a proposal for an entire panel, please make sure the preregistration fee for all members of the panel is paid. The deadline for proposal submission is 1 August 2009. To submit a proposal and to pay the preregistration fee, follow the instructions on the conference website: http://rethinkingmarxism.org/conf REGISTRATION RATES ______Full Regular Rate $100 (at conference $115) ______Full Low-Income Rate $45 (at conference $55) ______Two-day Regular Rate $80 (at conference $95) ______Two-day Low-Income Rate $35 (at conference $45) ______One-day Regular Rate $60 (at conference $75) ______One-day Low-Income Rate $25 (at conference $35) LOGISTICS The conference will be held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Detailed information on lodging, travel directions, and childcare will be provided on the conference website. TECHNOLOGY Conference presentations will take place in the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  The majority of the rooms now have projectors available, but those wishing to project images or slides will need to provide their own laptop computers.  Please indicate on your registration form if you will need the use of a projector in order to facilitate the proper scheduling of rooms. PUBLICATIONS Selected papers, poems, art, and other forms of presentation from the conference may be published in RETHINKING MARXISM and/or in separate edited volumes of contributions. CONFERENCE WEBSITE All information pertaining to the conference, including paper and panel submission instructions, preregistration and on-site rates, lodging suggestions, travel directions, possible childcare arrangements, cultural events, the conference program, and much else will be posted on the conference website when details become available. The web address is: http://www.rethinkingmarxism.org/conf VENDORS AND ADVERTISEMENTS Literature tables and display areas are available to groups, vendors, and publishers at reasonable rates. Ad space in the conference program is also available at reasonable rates. All ads must be camera-ready. Inquiries concerning the conference can be addressed to: Vincent Lyon-Callo Department of Anthropology, Moore Hall Western Michigan University Kalamazoo MI 49008 Vincent.lyon-callo@wmich.edu Lisa Dettmer ,JD Women's Magazine KPFA Radio 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way Berkeley, CA 94704 http://www.kpfa.org/womensmagazine 

The Science Jobs ‘Science Network’

The Science Jobs is pleased to announce the launch of an international competition to select new writers among those who are pursuing their PhD research.

The doctoral fellows will get an opportunity to write a short monthly report (maximum of 1000 words) pertaining to their research for The Science Jobs ‘Science Network’. Not only the research findings but new technological developments or any other aspects related to their research can be the topic of the articles. The research fellows should be able to describe how their experiences shape their future career choices.

To begin:

1. Go to http://www.thesciencejobs.com for registration. It is free and a very simple process.
2. Activate your registration by clicking on the activation link in the first email received from us.
3. To consider for the award, submit at least one article every month continuously for one year starting from January 2009.

Deadline for registration is December 15, 2008.

Visit http://www.thesciencejobs.com for more details and registration links.

Mrs. Thripthi, The Science Jobs Editor

theScienceJobs.com
1G, Horizon Park
Althara Nagar, Vellayambalam
Trivandrum 695010
Kerala, India
Tel. +91 9895 211 299
Email: contact@thesciencejobs.com

ED-MEDIA–World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications

For more information go to: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm

ED-MEDIA–World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications is an international conference, organized by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

This annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications/distance education.

ED-MEDIA, the premiere international conference in the field, spans all disciplines and levels of education and annually attracts more than 1,500 leaders in the field from over 70 countries. For a list, see: Countries @ ED-MEDIA.

We invite you to attend ED-MEDIA and submit proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, tutorials, workshops, posters/demonstrations, corporate showcases/demos, and SIG discussions. The Conference Review Policy requires that each proposal will be peer-reviewed by for inclusion in the conference program, proceedings book, and CD-ROM proceedings.

First Four-Star Woman General: WHIJEC asks “What does it mean to you?”

On November 14, 2008, Lt. General Ann E. Dunwoody became the first
woman to be promoted as a Four-Star General. In 1970, Anna May Hays,
was the first woman to be promoted as a general. WHIJEC asks “What
does it mean to you?”

The Women’s Heritage International Joint Exchange Competition
(WHIJEC)’s mission is to work with schools in U.S. and other
countries, to introduce young people to the contributions of women to
local, national and world history, which are still largely absent in
historical accounts, especially in the P20 educational system
(Kindergarten through Graduate school). Through bicultural
collaboration using the Internet and online technologies,
participating students can learn about Women’s Heritage, have
exchanges of country, culture, and language as well develop and hone
telecollaboration skills.

Recognizing the lack of historical accounts of women in history, we
are asking for you help and support. If you have a comment or a
reflection or personal story as a woman or about a woman, which you
would like to share with those interested in participating in the
WHIJEC, please visit and blog about it at http://www.ijeniei.ning.com.

If you have questions or would like to know more about the Women’s
Heritage International Joint Exchange Competition, please email
whijec@i-e-institute.org.

Also, in the coming weeks, we will have chats between students
different countries interested in participating in the WHIJEC. If you
are interested in joining us, please email
ijecevents@i-e-institute.org

Thank you.

All the best.

Alfred

Alfred Griffin, President
International Exchange Institute
http://www.i-e-institute.org

El Mundo Zurdo:The First International Conference on the Work and Life of Gloria E. Anzaldúa

Sponsored by The Society for the Study of Gloria E. Anzald�a (SSGA) and the Women's Studies Institute at the University of Texas at San Antonio May 16-17, 2009 at the University of Texas at San Antonio Call for Proposals The Society for the Study of Gloria E. Anzald�a <seeks ">http://www.ssganzaldua.org/cfp9.htm>seeks submission of proposals for papers, panels of 3-4 papers, roundtables, workshops, or performances for its First International Conference on the work and life of Gloria E. Anzald�a on the fifth anniversary of her passing. We welcome proposals involving all facets of Anzald�a's life and work. The following tracks are merely suggested conceptual groupings for panel and performance presentations: � BORDERS--explorations of border theory, borderlands ethos and other concepts of Anzald�an thought focused on this key concept of her work � QUEER STUDIES--el mundo zurdo and the atravesados, key to Anzald�a's thinking and application of her philosophical work � EDUCATION--pedagogical concerns surrounding her literary and philosophical works. Some questions that may arise: what are some challenges of teaching Anzald�a? How does Anzald�a's thought apply to teaching? � INTERNATIONAL AND TRANSFRONTERA--The effects of globalization and market economies on culture. What is the status of Anzald�a studies at the international level? � SPIRITUALITY--Explorations of Anzald�a's spiritual teachings. How can we heal the earth and ourselves? Guidelines Proposals must include the following: � 250-word proposal narrative � 100-word abstract suitable for publication in the conference program book � Submissions for Panels must include proposals and abstracts for each paper and the name, address, phone number(s), e-mail address, and institutional affiliation of each participant � Audio/visual needs � Contact person's name, address, phone number(s), e-mail address, and institutional affiliation All materials must be electronically date-stamped by February 15, 2009. Proposers will be notified of acceptance by March 15, 2009. Questions about the submission process may be sent to: gloria.anzaldua.society@gmail.com 

Feminisms and Popular Culture

The Southern Connecticut State University Women’s Studies Program  Celebrates Our
Seventh Annual Graduate Conference: “Feminisms and Popular Culture” To be held on
Saturday, April 4, 2009, at SCSU Deadlinefor Proposals: Friday, February 13,
2009  SCSU Women’s Studies Program invites graduate students in any discipline
working toward a Master’s or a Ph.D. to submit proposals for presentation. Graduate
students from all academic institutions and disciplines, or areas of feminist
research and activism are encouraged to contribute proposals. The conference theme
will be the effects of pop culture on feminism and feminism on pop culture.  We are
seeking presentations that address issues such as (but not limited to): How can we
use popular culture to promote a feminist agenda?What feminist voices are missing in
pop culture?What new methods or technologies are feminists using to make their voices
heard?How has popular culture changed relative to feminist action?How are women and
girls getting ideas about their own womanhood from popular culture, and where can
they find alternative images?What are some examples of successful feminists
interaction with popular culture?Who are ultimately the creators of and gatekeepers
to popular images of masculinity and femininity?What issues should be in the popular
consciousness, and how can feminists promote them?How is feminism represented (or
misrepresented) in popular culture?  Students in all academic fields are welcome and
encouraged to contribute. Proposals for presentation may take any form: lecture,
workshop, roundtable, art display, etc. Possible submission formats may include
photos, data or audio CD’s, videos or DVD’s, audio tapes, photo copies, or
traditional abstracts. Please include any technology needs. All
proposals should include the presenter’s name, affiliation, and contact information.
If interested in moderating a panel or round table, please indicate so in the
submission. Registration fee is $10.00 for students and $20.00 for faculty.
Registration includes breakfast, lunch, and beverage breaks. Please send or e-mail
proposals to:        Women’s Studies Graduate Conference                            
Women’s Studies Program, ENG B229Southern Connecticut State University501 Crescent
StreetNew Haven, CT 06515-1355Phone: (203) 392-6133Fax: (203) 392-6723Email:
womenstudies@southernct.eduhttp://www.southernct.edu/womensstudies/   

Queerly Canadian: Changing Narrative

a conference at the University of British Columbia,
June 5-6, 2009

Call for papers”Queerly Canadian: Changing Narratives” highlights scholarship that explores
fictional and non-fictional narratives that make and measure change (individual, political, community and cultural). Specifically, the conference will ask how queer narratives have changed, not only the changes from l/g to l/g/b to l/g/b/t to queer, but our changing sense
of ourselves in relation to society and to history.

The impetus for the conference is to recognize the importance of the narratives that Jane Rule created in her fiction and her essays. Born in the U.S., Rule chose to be Canadian and created narratives of queer possibilities before there was a major political movement. Once the g/l/b/t movement became an important presence her fictional narratives and her essays provided a critical voice within the g/l/b/t and feminist movements. Her analysis of the relation of individuals to the state, her critique of regulation within minority communities and her resistance to narrowly defined identity politics provide a much-needed perspective for queer politics and cultures today.

The conference marks the expansion of the Rule archives at the UniversityBritish Columbia this year. We want to encourage scholars and graduate students to consider Rule’s papers and other archives that are becoming available that give us a fuller and often rather different
picture of the twentieth century in North America, especially the lives and work of lesbians whose histories tend to be under-researched. While Jane Rule’s work is the impetus for the conference, we want to include attention to other North American writers, artists, activists and
scholars who have enriched and complicated narratives of l/g/b/t or queer lives and communities. Program  Friday, June 5: Keynote speakersNicole Brossard, poet and novelist, most recently Cahier de roses & de civilisation (Notebook of Roses and Civilization)Evelyn White, writer and biographer, most recently Alice Walker: A Life Saturday, June 6Plenary – Queerly Canadian Richard Cavell, scholar and writer, Sexing the Maple: Texts, Documents, Criticism, edited with Peter Dickinson Marilyn R. Schuster, scholar, Passionate Communities: Reading Lesbian Resistance in Jane Rule’s Fiction
Round table discussions and panel presentations by scholars, artists and
activists:L/g/b/t and queer narratives from the 1960s to the presentMining the queer
archiveSmall presses and queer journalism: making our narratives knownVisual
narratives: film, video, & graphic novels

Please
submit 500 word proposals for fifteen minute presentations related to
any one of the four roundtable/panel discussion topics by January 30 to: University
of British ColumbiaJanice Stewart Department of English397-1873 East MallVancouver
BCCanada V6T 1Z1janice.stewart@ubc.ca

Identities: Education Libraries, Past, Present, and Future

Please consider this call for articles for the next issue of Education Libraries, a peer-reviewed journal of SLA’s Education Division. To commemorate SLA’s centennial in 2009, and the Education Division’s 35th anniversary, we have chosen the theme  Identities: Education Libraries, Past, Present, and Future. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2009.

 

Instructions for contributors can be found at http://units.sla.org/division/ded/instructions.html

 

Previous issues are available at http://units.sla.org/division/ded/education_libraries.html

 

Send submissions and questions to Jacqueline Snider at jacqueline-snider@uiowa.edu

 

Thank you.

Jacqueline Snider

Education Libraries , Editor

The Ethics of Information Organization

May 22-23, 2009
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Information organization (IO), like other major functions of the information profession, faces many ethical challenges. In the IO literature, ethical concerns have been raised with regard to, for example, the role of national and international IO standards, providing subject access to information, deprofessionalization and outsourcing of IO, education of IO professionals, and the effects of globalization. These issues, and others like them, have serious implications for quality and equity in information access. The Center for Information Policy Research and the Information Organization Research Group at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee join in presenting this conference to address the ethics of information organization.

The themes of the conference may include, but are not limited to, ethical aspects of and approaches to:

    * The role of standards in IO
    * Subject access to information
    * Description and Metadata
    * Folksonomies and social tagging as IO
    * Day-to-day practice in IO
    * Professionalism and IO
    * Education for IO
    * Culture and IO
    * Economic, social and political factors in IO
    * International, multicultural and multilingual aspects of IO

The keynote speakers will be:

    * Clare Beghtol, Professor, University of Toronto, Canada
    * Jos� Augusto Chaves Guimar�es, Professor, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil
    * Janet Swan Hill, Professor, Associate Director for Technical Services, University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries, USA

We invite interested participants to submit proposals for papers to include: name(s) of presenter(s), title(s), affiliation(s), contact information and abstracts of 300-500 words. Presentations will be 30 minutes. Time will be set aside for questions as well as broader discussion. All abstracts will be published on the Web site of the UW-Milwaukee Center for Information Policy Research. Full papers will be further reviewed for publication in a special issue of Cataloging and Classification Quarterly.

   Abstracts due: January 1, 2009
   Notification of acceptance by: February 1, 2009
   Full papers due: April 3, 2009

Submit proposals electronically to: Hur-Li Lee, Chair of the Program Committee (hurli@uwm.edu)

Program Committee:

    * Grant Campbell, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario, Canada
    * Allyson Carlyle, Associate Professor, University of Washington
    * Clara M. Chu, Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
    * Edwin Michael Cortez, Professor/Director, University of Tennessee
    * Birger Hj�rland, Professor, The Royal School of Library and Information Science in Denmark
    * Hur-Li Lee (Chair) Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    * Steven J. Miller, Senior Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    * Hope A. Olson, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    * Sandra Roe, Editor, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly , Bibliographic Services Librarian, Milner Library, Illinois State University
    * Richard P. Smiraglia, Professor, Long Island University
    * Michael Zimmer, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Sponsors:

    * Center for Information Policy Research, UW-Milwaukee
    * Information Organization Research Group at UW-Milwaukee
    * University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries
    * Milwaukee Public Libraries