Deadline Extended: VRD Call for Proposals

[VRD Conference]

DEADLINE EXTENDED:
VRD 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 Friday, May 31, 2002 (see
proposal submission instructions below). 
 
	Selected presenters will be notified by mid-July. 
 
	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: 
o	Workflow software (for question/answering) 
o	Question-answer archiving tools/knowledge bases 
o	Web contact center software 
o	Customer relationship management software 
o	Networking/routing solutions 
o	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 
	Impact and opportunity of digital reference in primary and
secondary education 
	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--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 submit your proposals via the Web form
at http://vrd.org/conferences/VRD2002/proposal_form02.shtml by May 31,
2002. Authors may also e-mail their proposals to VRD Conference at
vrdconf at vrd.org. 
 
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 31, 2002
Notification of Acceptance: mid-July
Final Papers Due for Print Proceedings Consideration: November 22, 2002
Presentations and Other Materials Due for Electronic Proceedings: November
29, 2002



Marilyn Schick
Conference & Event Specialist
Virtual Reference Desk  -  www.vrd.org
ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
Syracuse University, 621 Skytop Road - Suite 160
Syracuse, New York   13244 - 5290
800 464 9107  -  Fax: 315 443 5448