Try your hand at writing - Contributors wanted...

[Ernest Perez]

Dear Web4Lib Subscribers,

If you're of a mind to write/publish about what you're doing and learning and attempting in the areas of library or information center automation, I invite you to contribute to Library Computing.

I've edited the Sage Publications journal called "Library Computing" for about a year now. This journal was previously entitled "Library Software Review."

We publish detailed, informative coverage of what people are doing in their library and information computer operations. We figure that "good" library automation should enable us to: provide better services for our clients; add sophistication to our information products, and just generally provide more added value. Oh, yeah, and it really ought to make things easier, faster, more accurate, more complete, and generally more fun.


* Expanded coverage - As well as the new name, the publication's been redesigned, gotten a totally new Editorial Board, and generally shifted to a broader coverage of library and information center automation and applications. Yes, we're still interested in "library software," but we're more interested in the generality of what professionals are doing with software and technology in their libraries.

* Expanded approach - In the past, this was a Meckler popular professional publication rather than a scholarly, peer-review journal. To better align with the other publications owned by scholarly publisher Sage Publications, Inc., we have added a juried article section to the journal. We're using the established peer-review model, under Associate Editor Tom Kilpatrick <tkilpatr at lib.siu.edu>. We also actively solicit contributions from library school students and recent graduates, under Student Contributing Editor Susan Johnson (Univ. of Hawaii library school) <susanj at hawaii.edu>.

If you've got something to say/write about automation applications, the other editors and I want to hear from you. Please respond to us via email, and let us know about your ideas. If you'd prefer for someone else to write about your topic or idea, again, let us know - we're building up a good group of interested contributors.

We're looking for a variety of contributions, to "add value" to our publication. Some ideas...
  * Automation improvements for patron/customer service;
  * Email and Web-based services;
  * Internal database operations, esp. with Web output;
  * OPAC/ILS integration with Web and custom services;
  * Integration of commercial vendor services for internal and remote library users;
  * Software features, library software implementations; definitive reviews of potential information processing/transfer packages;
  * Automated data capture, customization, and delivery to end users including Web Bots, custom programs, agents, etc.;
  * Automated adaptations to and improvements of traditional methods;
  * ...and like that.

Remember, we publish both popular-style articles (with honorarium) and peer-reviewed scholarly articles, as well as student contributions (of either type).

For more detailed "Contributor Information", take a look at that section of our neophyte  Home Page, at <http://.librarycomputing.cjb.net>. There you'll find email addresses of the various editors, article style guides, submission format instructions, MSWord .doc and .RTF  templates.

BTW: Librarians know about and are frustrated by "blind references." The non-productive equivalent in publishing is a "blind submission." This is writing an article, and then sending it out unsolicited to various publications, in the vain hope that SOMEONE is going to want to print it.

Please do yourself a favor, don't complete an article and submit it blind. Contact us first, let's discuss it, email/talk over your ideas, the approach, the possibilities, etc. It really helps.  :-)

Cheers,
Ernest Perez, Ph.D.
Editor, "Library Computing"
editor at librarycomputing.cjb.net
503-378-4243, ext 257 (workday)
503-588-3650 home