Call for Papers — Open Sessions

IFLA’s Policy and Advocacy team with Offline Internet Consortium

• 25 January 2020, 19:53

Theme: "Expanding Offline Access to Networked Information"

OFFLINE Internet – Call for Lightning Papers

Background

Networked information enhances life for half the planet – and leaves half the planet unserved.  Whatever advances are made, some populations will long be disadvantaged:  geographically remote, socioeconomically disadvantaged, politically suppressed, post-conflict, post-disaster, and others.  A growing number of independent organizations and individuals are devoting efforts to finding ways to bring access to digital information to underserved populations with a variety of strategies.  While making enormous headway, such organizations may be unaware of other efforts, opportunities, and technical advances that could be leveraged.  The Offline Internet Consortium brings such efforts together.  With the support of IFLA’s Policy and Advocacy team, the Consortium is holding its 2^nd annual Open Programme at the WLIC in Dublin.

Possible Themes and Research Questions in This Session Could Include

• Examples of how marginalized populations are being electronically served with information without reliable internet access
• Impact of such services
• Promising technologies
• Strategies for building support (social, political, financial) for such services
• The role of libraries in such services

Format of Presentations

Presentations will be limited to a maximum of 8 minutes. It is strongly recommended that the presentation be supported by a visual element such as PowerPoint, Prezi, or other presentation software, but format is flexible.  Recommended formats include TED talk, Storyboard, and the 3MT (3-minute thesis – 1 slide only).  Given the time limit, no presentation should be more than 5 slides.

Submission Guidelines

Proposal abstracts must be submitted by 20th March 2020, must be in English, and should clearly include:

• Title of proposed talk
• Abstract of proposed paper (no more than 500 words)
• Name(s) of presenter(s) and position(s) and/or title(s)
• Employer(s) / affiliated institution(s) of presenter(s)
• Contact information including email address(es) and telephone number(s)
• Short biographical statement(s) of presenter

Abstracts Must be Submitted as an MS Word Attachment to:

Muy-Cheng Peich
Email: Muy-cheng.peich@bibliosansfrontieres.org

James O’Donnell
Email: jod@asu.edu

Accepted Papers 

• Accepted presentations should be an original submission not presented/published elsewhere, preferably written in English.
• Papers for publication in the IFLA Library must use the template that will be available with IFLA’s 2020 Guidelines for Paper Authors and Presenters.
• Publications in the IFLA Library will be made available online under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
• Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Authors’ Permission Form.
• Completed accepted papers must be submitted as MS Word attachments to the two committee members listed above, along with accompanying presentation slides, by 15th June 2020.

Important Dates

20 March 2020 = Proposal abstracts due

1 May 2020 = Acceptance notices sent to authors

15 June 2020 = Completed papers and presentations submitted

Please note:

At least one of the paper’s authors must be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the program in Dublin. Abstracts should only be submitted with the understanding that the expenses of attending the conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.

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, but a special invitation letter can be issued to author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.

Congress Participation Grants

List of opportunities for support is available on the Apply for Grants & Awards webpage.