21st Century Tools, Skills and Competencies Take Center Stage at Global Library Conference
Tools, Skills, and Competencies is the theme for the Library 2.015 Worldwide Virtual Conference, the fifth annual event about the future of libraries in the digital age. The open online conference will take place on October 20, 2015 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. PDT, and presentation proposals can be submitted beginning May 1, 2015.
The Library 2.0 virtual conference series was co-founded by Dr. Sandra Hirsh, director of the San José State University (SJSU) School of Information, and Steve Hargadon of The Learning Revolution, in 2011. The iSchool-sponsored annual conference is free to attend, and proposals are welcomed on a variety of topics addressing the ever-changing field of 21st century information.
The completely online conference offers an excellent opportunity for graduate students, doctoral candidates, scholars, and information professionals worldwide to network and present cutting-edge ideas and research on contemporary practices and emerging trends in the information profession.
Conference Strands
Four thematic subject strands have been planned for this year’s conference:
- Digital Services, Preservation, Curation, and Access
- Emerging Technologies and Trends
- The User Experience
- Management of Libraries and Information Centers in the 21st Century
Example presentation topics are available on the Library 2.0 website, and include game-based learning, new forms of scholarly publishing, usability techniques, library advocacy, marketing, and much more. Proposals are not limited to the subject strands, and sessions showcasing research and work in a variety of information settings are encouraged.
Submitting a Proposal
Proposals can be submitted starting May 1, 2015, and conference organizers will start reviewing the proposals in the order in which they were received starting May 30, 2015. Once submitted, proposals will be listed on the Library 2.015 conference website, and members of the Library 2.0 network will have the chance to comment on proposals, ask questions, and “like” the proposals they would like to see presented at the conference in October. After network members have shared ideas and discussed presentation ideas, a total of 50 proposals will be chosen for the day-long conference.
Presentations should be at least 20 minutes long, and sessions must be completed within one hour. Free training on Blackboard Collaborate will be available for all presenters. Complete information on how to submit a proposal is available on the Library 2.0 website.
Session Recordings
All sessions presented at the Library 2.015 Worldwide Virtual Conference will be recorded and released on the website under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Past conference sessions are archived on the Library 2.0 website.
Get Involved
The Library 2.015 Worldwide Virtual Conference is free to attend thanks to the support of partners, sponsors, board members, presenters, and volunteers. Hirsh and Hargadon encourage the information community to get involved in the Library 2.015 Worldwide Virtual Conference and reap the benefits of the global pool of information.