CALL FOR PAPERS HAS NOW CLOSED

VALA - Libraries, Technology & the Future Inc., aims to promote the use and understanding of information and communications technology as it applies to practitioners in the library, cultural and information dissemination industries.

The theme for VALA 2008 reflects the changes that are now taking place: in the physical face of libraries and cultural institutions, the range of virtual services they offer, the nature of their relationships with their users, and their intra- and institutional partnerships.

Please feel free to suggest papers that relate in any way to the use of information and communications technology by the sector or which deal with the types of change described above. The following list of topics is offered as a guide, but is not exhaustive.

• Digitisation and managing digital objects
• Digital / electronic publishing
• Rights management, intellectual property and copyright
• Archiving / preservation of electronic resources

• Learning Commons and library design
• Information management and knowledge sharing
• Teaching and learning environments
• Virtual reference
• Geographic information systems
• Multi-lingual systems

• The future of the ILMS
• Open archives
• Metadata harvesting and management
• Tagging, folksonomies, comments, social bookmarking
• Social networking and peer-based production systems
• Ontologies and semantic technologies
• Mark-up languages, eg. XML
• Performance measures and statistical data

• Interoperability and standards
• Partnerships across the cultural sector
• Open source development and application
• Collaboration and consortia
• Federated searching

• Digital collections and repositories
• Virtual communities and grid computing
• e-Research and e-Learning

• Accessibility
• Reaching your audience
• Using IT to engage with your communities
• The digital divide
• User behaviour and changing expectations
• User authentication, registration and privacy issues
• Information ethics
• User interfaces
• Portals, personalisation and intranets
• Sustainable libraries in the virtual environment
• Managing the balance between internal and external users

• Application of new technologies
• Mobile devices
• Wireless technologies
• Library 2.0

All abstracts must be original work. Authors will be required to sign a declaration that the paper submitted is their own work and has not been published elsewhere.

The extended abstract, being a precis of your paper, must be between 400 and 500 words. Note that abstracts that are too short or too long may be rejected.

Each abstract must contain a title, lists of authors and the affiliations of the authors. Abstracts must also include the name, organisation, department, position, address, telephone and facsimile numbers and e-mail address of the author(s) who will be presenting the paper at the conference. Full details are also to be provided for the author nominated as the contact person for this paper. Note that all correspondence will be sent only to the contact person.

Call for Papers closed on 11 May 2007.

Acceptance or otherwise is at the discretion of the Conference Programme Committee. The presenting speaker will be advised in writing of the Committee's decision during June 2007.

On acceptance of abstracts, the contact speaker will be provided with speaker briefing notes.

Full copies of final papers are required to be submitted by 15 September 2007, following which papers will be refereed. The Conference Programme Committee will then advise you of any revisions required.

Remember that VALA papers for publication are due to be submitted before the end of September in order to begin the peer-review process, during which you have the opportunity to update the paper as events and technologies unfold.  And at the conference you are asked to talk to your paper, which means you can be up to the minute with the latest in your field.

VALA reserves the right to reject final papers.

All presenting speakers must complete the Registration Form for the Conference. One discounted speaker fee per paper will be offered in the registration brochure, which is scheduled for distribution in August 2007.

Call for Papers closed on 11 May 2007.

The Main Announcement and Registration Brochure will be issued in August 2007.

If you would like to receive the Main Announcement and Registration Brochure, please contact the VALA2008 Conference Office.

If you may be interested in holding a workshop in conjunction with the conference, please contact the VALA2008 Conference Office.

Expressions of interest are invited from companies and organisations to participate as a sponsor and/or exhibitor at VALA2008: 14th Biennial Conference, "LIBRARIES / CHANGING SPACES, VIRTUAL PLACES". Further information regarding the various marketing opportunities available can be obtained from the VALA2008 Conference Office.