[Asis-l] Virtual Reference Desk CALL FOR PROPOSALS

[VRD Conference]

Papers and Presentations

The VRD 6th Annual Reference Conference
"Creating a Reference Future"

November 8-9, 2004
Cincinnati, OH

Proposals are invited for concurrent breakout session presentations at the
VRD 6th Annual Reference Conference on Monday and Tuesday, November 8-9,
2004.

The VRD conference explores all aspects of reference service in a broad
range of contexts, including libraries and information centers,
government, business, education, and other industry sectors or
organizations. The theme of this year's conference, "Creating a Reference
Future," emphasizes the rapid growth and changing nature of reference, as
the latest technologies meld with traditional reference service to create
dynamic new hybrids in information provision. Authors are encouraged to
examine issues, identify practices, and propose organizational and
technological systems, standards, and procedures that advance the state of
reference librarianship as practiced in a variety of environments and
mediums. Please note that the scope of this year's conference has been
expanded to explore reference work in its entirety, and not just digital
reference.

Presenters will receive free registration for the conference.

Deadlines:
* Proposals will be accepted until June 1, 2004 (see proposal submission
instructions below).

* Selected presenters will be notified by July 16, 2004.

* Final papers are due Friday, December 10, 2004 in order to be considered
for inclusion in the VRD 2004 Conference print proceedings, to be
published in 2005.

* PowerPoint presentation slides, handouts, and other materials to be
published in the VRD electronic proceedings will be due Friday, December
10, 2004.

CONFERENCE THEMES:

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

Administrative Issues

* Training solutions and models for service staff
* Planning for technological evolution
* Performance measures, evaluation approaches, and quality standards
* Personnel/staffing, optimizing human resources
* Marketing services to potential users
* Partnerships with vendors
* Planning for equipment and space
* Reference outsourcing
* Copyright and. licensing issues for resources, such as pricing, legal
ramifications, etc.

General Reference Issues

* Special services for special needs users
* Accessibility
* Emerging trends
* Legal issues and liability
* Archiving/tracking questions and answers/FAQs
* Commercial and fee-based services
* Case studies (experiences from different ways of providing reference
service in all contexts)

Digital Reference

* Software selection issues
* Standards for digital reference technology, including NISO standards
* Integration of digital reference into other reference models (service
hybrids)
* Policies and standards for consortia and cooperative reference
* Training and education for staff
* Models for funding/pricing
* Policies and the law - liability, privacy, ethics, copyright, licensing
* Question negotiation in the digital environment
* Providing reference services for kids and teachers
* Technology and tools, such as:
* 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)

Reference Resources

* Search engines
* Reference meta-sites
* Collection development
* Online and print resources for ready reference
* Intermediary search services vs. end-user systems
* Locally-mounted digital resources vs. remote resources
* Evaluation of 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 June 1, 2004.

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 2004 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 2004 Reference Conference, please
contact Jo Ann Cortez, vrdconf at vrd.org, 800-464-9107. For hotel and other
information, please see the VRD 2004 Conference Web site at
http://www.vrd2004.org/.

DEADLINES:

Proposals Due: June 1, 2004

Notification of Acceptance: July 16, 2004 

Final Papers Due for Print Proceedings Consideration:
December 10, 2004

Presentations and Other Materials Due for Electronic Proceedings:
December 10, 2004



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Virtual Reference Desk
Information Institute of Syracuse
621 Skytop Road, Suite 160
Syracuse, NY  13244-5290
phone: 315 443 3640  fax: 315 443 5448
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