Call for Proposals: VRD 2002 Digital Reference Conference

[Joann Wasik]

 	         	     CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
		          Papers and Presentations

		The VRD 4th Annual Digital Reference Conference
	   Charting the Course of Reference: Toward a Preferred Future

			    November 11-12, 2002
				Chicago, IL

Proposals are invited for concurrent breakout session presentations at the
VRD 4th Annual Digital Reference Conference on Monday and Tuesday,
November 11-12, 2002. 

This conference explores the nature of Internet-based question-and-answer
service within a broad range of contexts, including libraries and
information centers, government, business, education, and other industry
sectors or organizations, as well as the specific issues involved in
providing any type of digital reference service. The theme of this year's
conference, "Charting the Course of Reference: Toward a Preferred Future,"
emphasizes planning and direction founded upon practical experience,
research, or trend analyses. Authors are encouraged to examine issues,
identify practices, and propose organizational and technological systems,
standards, and practices that advance the state of reference librarianship
as practiced in a digital environment.

Presenters will receive free admission to the conference.

Deadlines:

 * Proposals will be accepted until Wednesday, May 15, 2002 (see
   proposal submission instructions below).

 * Selected presenters will be notified by Monday, June 17, 2002. 

 * Final papers are due Friday, November 22, 2002 in order to be
   considered for inclusion in the VRD Conference print proceedings.

 * PowerPoint presentation slides, handouts, and other materials to
   be published in the VRD electronic proceedings will be due Friday,
   November 29, 2002.

CONFERENCE THEMES:

Proposal themes may include, but are not limited to, the following topics
and categories:

Technology for Digital Reference 

	* Real-time/live reference 
	* Software selection issues
	* Commercial vs. "home-grown" solutions
	* Standards for digital reference technology
	* Tools for digital reference, including:
	* Workflow software (for question/answering) 
	* Question-answer archiving tools/knowledge bases 
	* Web contact center software
	* Customer relationship management software
	* Networking/routing solutions
	* Voice over IP (VoIP)
	* Planning for technological evolution

Digital Reference Service Management 

	* Foundations for building digital reference services
	* Defining service levels
	* Integration of digital reference into other reference models
	  (service hybrids)
	* Archiving/tracking questions and answers/FAQs
	* Policies and standards for consortia and cooperative reference
	* Evaluation approaches and quality standards 
	* Training solutions and models for service staff 
	* Models for funding/pricing
	* Personnel/staffing, optimizing human resources
	* Planning for equipment and space 
	* Marketing services to potential users
	* Reference outsourcing

General Issues in Digital Reference 
	
	* Partnerships - cooperative/collaborative networks,
	  sharing/pooling resources
	* Partnerships with vendors
	* How to identify, attract, and keep patrons
	* Intranets
	* Commercial/fee-based services
	* Question negotiation in the digital environment
	* Policies and the law - privacy, ethics, copyright, licensing
	* Accessibility
	* Case studies (experiences from practicing digital reference
 	  services in all contexts)
	* Physical spaces for virtual services - how physical spaces are
	  transformed vis-a-vis virtual services
	* Performance and evaluation measures
	* Future directions of reference 

Digital Reference Resources

	* Search engines
	* Reference meta-sites
	* Collection development
	* Online resources for ready reference
	* Intermediary search services vs. end-user systems
	* Locally-mounted digital resources vs. remote resources
	* Evaluation of digital reference resources

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Proposals should include speaker's name, job title, institution, address,
phone, fax, e-mail, brief biographical information, and a topic related
abstract of 250-500 words. Please e-mail your proposal to VRD Conference
(vrdconf at vrd.org) by May 15, 2002.

Print and Electronic Proceedings

Presenters are encouraged to submit papers or related materials (e.g.,
handouts, copies of slides, etc.) for publication in the conference's
print and electronic proceedings. The print proceedings will be comprised
of peer-reviewed papers from the 2002 conference, and the content will
differ from material published in the online proceedings. For more
information, contact vrdconf at vrd.org.

For more information regarding the VRD 2002 Annual Digital Reference
Conference, please contact Marilyn Schick, vrdconf at vrd.org, 800-464-9107. 

DEADLINES:

Proposals Due: May 15, 2002

Notification of Acceptance: June 17, 2002

Final Papers Due for Print Proceedings Consideration: November 22,2002

Presentations and Other Materials Due for Electronic Proceedings: November
29, 2002