[Web4lib] Call for Proposals: HigherEd BlogCon

[Meredith Farkas]

CFP: HigherEd BlogCon http://higheredblogcon.editme.com/

Thomson Peterson's, PRNewswire, and CASE are pleased to present *HigherEd
BlogCon - Transforming Academic Communities with New Tools of the Social
Web. *  This brand-new, all-online event aims to bring together in a single
Web space many of the leading players who are transforming academe with
their use of the new tools of the Social Web.

All presentations will be made available on the event Web site at no charge
to participants (with the exception of the live, Web/audio CASE Online
Speaker Series events).

Modeled after **Global PR Blog Week <http://www.globalprblogweek.com/>
<http://www.globalprblogweek.com/> 2.0
<http://www.globalprblogweek.com/>, *Higher
Ed BlogCon 2006* will focus on the use of blogs, wikis, RSS, podcasts,
vblogs, and other digital tools in a range of areas in academe.
We invite you to propose presentations for HigherEd BlogCon 2006. Please
refer to the detailed listing of tracks below for ideas from Section Chairs
about the kinds of topics suitable for each track.

In each track, we welcome two kinds of proposals: 1) longer thought pieces
demonstrating originality and expertise in the area being addressed, and 2)
shorter pieces discussing applications the presenter has been involved in
designing or building.

*Vendor Proposals:* Vendor proposals are welcome, but product pitches will
not be considered.

*Format of Proposal:* 250-500 words, written. Proposals are a way for the
review team to assess your contribution quickly. Please do not submit full
presentations. Proposals should indicate the format in which you plan to
offer your presentation (fully written, audio, screencast, etc.). They
should also indicate whether you intend to present a longer thought piece or
a shorter application-focused presentation.

*Required Information to Accompany Proposal:* Name, email address,
institution, position, track in which presentation belongs (see below for a
listing of the tracks). If you have questions about where your presentation
belongs, please email us at higheredblogcon at gmail.com.

*Suggested Information to Accompany Proposal:* Author's blog or website
address.

*Method of Proposal Submission:* Please refer to the instructions found on
the Proposals page<http://higheredblogcon.editme.com/guidelinesforsubmittingproposals>
.

*Method of Presentation Submission:* Presenters will be required to submit
their final presentation material (or, in the case of an audio, screencast,
or video presentation, a summary with links to it) via the conference blog,
where it will be reviewed by the Section Chair and published on the blog at
the appropriate time.

*Proposal Review:* Proposals will be reviewed by a team consisting of
Section Chair and Section Editor, together with input from the conference
planning committee. Interviews with Section
Chairs<http://higheredblogcon.editme.com/sectionchairs>provide
detailed information about how each Section Chair plans to evaluate
proposals.

*Key Dates *

Due Date for Proposals:January 31, 2006

Notification of Acceptance: February 20, 2006

Due Date for Presentations: March 15, 2006

*Conference Track Detail*

We invite you to submit proposals for presentation in the following tracks.
Below are some suggestions about topics that might be appropriate in each
track.

* Library and Information Resources*

* Library 2.0: What Does Web 2.0 Mean for Libraries?
* New Media and the New Librarian (What skills do librarians need to create
the 2.0 Library?)
* Impact of social software on learning in library and information science.
* Using social software to communicate, educate, and build community online
in libraries (blogs, Wikis, RSS, IM, podcasting, photo sharing,
screencasting, etc.).
* Improving Access to Resources (Search engines, Federated Search, OpenURL,
collaborative filtering, usability, accessibility, etc.)
* Web services and the library: seamless, interoperable, modular, reusable.
* User-created content (folksonomies, wikis, wiki-like function in the
catalog, etc.)
* Does or should technology affect the way we define and teach information
literacy?
* Guidelines for evaluating and recommending tools
* Emerging Technologies in Libraries: Looking Ahead

*PR/Marketing/Development*

* PR professionals and the faculty/staff/student blogger
* Top-down versus bottom-up
* Selecting student bloggers and podcasters for blogosphere campaigns
* Measuring and evaluating blogging and podcasting efforts
* Guidelines for students blogging and podcasting on behalf of the
institution
* Consumer-generated media and new sources of marketing material
* Monitoring, evaluating, and responding to blogging about your institution
* Integrating new media efforts into existing campaigns
* PR/marketing and new media in non-recruiting contexts

*Teaching*

* Challenges surrounding intellectual property
* The changing nature of in-class activity in the age of podcast lectures
* Impact of new media on attendance patterns
* Impact of new media on online learning
* New media and course platforms
* What do new media mean for the so-called digital divide?
* Video versus screencast versus podcast
* Wikis and learning
* The RSS divide
* The role of games in education
* Open courseware
* Changing expectations of the student and teacher at the educational
interface

*Websites and Web Development*

* The evolving role of the webmaster in the age of social tools (including
how these technologies will affect working relationships across areas and
disciplines)
* Uses of and coordination of RSS and syndication across the institution
* Implementation and utilization of social software and other applications
in higher education websites
* Web standards and accessibility in blogs, wikis, etc.
* Utilizing students in the development of websites, web applications and
social applications.
* Production and distribution methods for podcasting
* Choosing, installing and maintaining a blogging system
* On the horizon: next generation web 2.0 applications

* Faculty Blogging (Under Development)*

* Risk and reward
* Anonymity
* Professional versus professional/private versus private blogs

*Student Life (Under Development)*

* Developing a culture of blogging—why or why not?
* Educating students in new media


 Meredith Gorran Farkas
Distance Learning Librarian
Norwich University
Northfield, VT 05663
802-485-2163
mfarkas at norwich.edu

Blog: Information Wants To Be Free
http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/

Wiki: Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
http://www.libsuccess.org/