CALL FOR PAPERS: LIBRARY TRENDS, International Journal of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science Special Issue on Trends in Next Generation Discovery and Access
The library catalog, along with other traditional information retrieval tools, is in a state of flux. Contributing factors include changing codes, changing priorities, and changing expectations. In the past four years, many institutions have implemented radically new approaches to the traditional library catalog. Whether we call these Third Generation Catalogs, Next Generation Catalogs, or Next Next Generation Catalogs, these are most often characterized by the introduction of faceted search capabilities and reliance on social technologies like tagging that encourage user interaction and participation. This period marks a new phase of experimentation that has not been seen since the late 1970s and early 1980s when the OPAC burst upon the scene. Since the unveiling of the new catalog at North Carolina State University in 2006, impassioned exchanges have occurred throughout the grey literature of our field today, from blog posts to the NGC4LIB listserv.
To provide a more permanent record of the ideas driving these exchanges, the international journal Library Trends is planning a special issue, Trends in Next Generation Discovery and Access. This issue of Library Trends aims to investigate the historical background of the developments and innovations in the catalog, and to support articulation work that describes both the theory and practices that underlie Next Generation Discovery and Access. Some of these instantiations are traditional catalogs with new window dressing, but many institutions are rethinking fundamental technologies and practices. It is these experiments that will be highlighted by this issue. Proposals for articles may address a specific implementation or types of implementations; these articles may be written in a brief case study format. In addition, as benefits the aims of the journal, authors are encouraged to write more extended articles that interpret, contextualize and describe a relevant topic. Contributions on the history, theory and philosophy of developments in library catalogs are welcome.
Proposals of no more than 300 words to be sent by 30 December 2010 to
Dr. Kathryn La Barre (klabarre@illinois.edu) Assistant Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Decisions will be communicated to contributors no later than 15 January 2011.
Delivery date of manuscripts: December 1, 2011. Each article will be in the range of 5,000-8,000 words (Case studies may be more brief).
Articles will be published in Volume 60:4 (Spring 2012).
