Call for proposals: Northern CA Technical Processes Group 2013 Program

The Northern California Technical Processes Group is seeking speakers for its 76th annual program to be held in Spring 2013. Our topic this year is "Libraries Without Walls Revisited". When the phrase "libraries without walls" was first coined in the 1970s, everyone read books the old-fashioned way, while iPads and the Cloud were the stuff of science fiction. We ask how technology has changed our profession, made our jobs easier, created new challenges for us, and how it ultimately will transform the very idea of libraries and what librarians and professional staff do. Some ideas that you might consider: a) How are libraries transcending their traditional boundaries, either physical or theoretical? b) How can collections services support librarians and professional staff in meeting user needs in environments beyond the library – whether by facilitating embedded librarianship, getting library metadata "in the flow" where users anticipate and need it, or by engaging with patrons to describe, build, and re-contextualize collections? c) How are librarians and professional staff collaborating with other institutions/staff to support the concept and vision of "libraries without walls"? Please submit your proposals (no longer than 250 words) to info@nctpg.org no later than December 31, 2012, at which time we will choose three speakers. See our Past Programs section at our website (www.nctpg.org) to see what we’ve been up to the last 76 years. And if you know colleagues that would be interested in presenting at our program, please get in touch with them! While we are mainly looking for presenters involved with collections services, we would also welcome proposals from people who focus on reference and outreach work (for example, embedded librarians).