New Discoveries in Reference: The 23rd Annual Reference Research Forum

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: 2017 REFERENCE RESEARCH FORUM

The Research & Statistics Committee of the Reference Services Section of the
Reference & User Services Association (RUSA) invites submission of reference
service research project proposals for presentation at New Discoveries in
Reference: The 23rd Annual Reference Research Forum at the 2017 American
Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. Researchers and
practitioners from all types of libraries, library school faculty and
students, and other interested individuals are encouraged to submit a
proposal.

The Reference Research Forum is a popular and valuable ALA Annual Conference
program. Attendees have the opportunity to learn about innovative research
projects conducted in reference services including user behavior, electronic
services, reference effectiveness and assessment, and organizational structure
and personnel.

For examples of projects presented at past Forums, please see the Committee’s
website: http://connect.ala.org/node/64439

The Committee employs a blind review process to select three projects for 20-
minute presentations, followed by open discussion.  Identifying information
will not be shared with reviewers until after final selection of projects.
Selected submissions must be presented in person at the Forum during ALA
Annual in Chicago, IL.

Criteria for selection:

1.      Originality: Potential for research to fill a gap in reference
knowledge or to build on previous studies
2.      Quality: Research design and methodologies
3.      Impact: Significance of the study for improving the quality of
reference service

NOTE: Research projects may be in-progress or completed. Previously published
research or research accepted for publication will not be accepted.

Important Dates:

Proposals are due by December 28th, 2016. Notification of acceptance will be
made by Monday, February 6th, 2017. The submission must not exceed the stated
word count limit.

Submissions will be accepted using our online form at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CWPMJK6

FORM PAGE 1: Contact Information
Fill out the fields for the primary contact’s name, title, institutional
affiliation, mailing address, and email address.  Additional research team
members should also be noted in the appropriate field.

FORM PAGE 2: Research Description (250 Word maximum)
The research description must not include any personally identifiable
information, including your name, or the name of your institution. Please
include these elements:

1.      Title of the project
2.      Explicit statement of the research problem
3.      Description of the research design and methodologies
4.      Findings or results if available
5.      Brief discussion of the originality, unique contribution, potential
impact, and significance of the research (if you use semi colons between items
in a list, you need to make sure the entire list is a complete sentence.)

Proposals that exceed the word count or that do not follow the format
described above will be automatically rejected.
Questions: Please contact the chairs David Ward (dh-ward@illinois.edu) and
Cindy Levine (crlevine@ncsu.edu)

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