Tuesday, September 17, 2013

CFP: 2014 IFLA International Newspaper Conference (Start Spreading the News!)

CFP: 2014 IFLA International Newspaper Conference (Start Spreading the News!)

Date:  February 4 – 5, 2014
Venue:  FamilySearch Headquarters, Salt Lake City, Utah
The IFLA Newspapers Section is currently seeking papers on or about outreach and marketing strategies for using or promoting online newspaper content, text mining, users of newspaper content, and use of news content for research purposes or as primary sources for historical or contemporary themes for its upcoming United States-hosted conference.  In addition to papers focused on the theme of Start Spreading the News, sub-themes on, but not limited to, the following topics are being sought :  

  • Use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, news blogs, Flickr, etc.to expose news and raise awareness of news content to users
  • Emerging research methodologies in using news and news content
  • Text mining newspapers and news content
  • Technologies used in text mining and in the presentation of mined data
  • Case studies of statistical and word patterns research planned or underway of mined news content
  • Traditional research underway in using digitized newspaper collections
  • Users’ experiences with digitized newspaper collections
  • Usability expectations
  • Innovative methods for design, use, and engagement of users in newspaper content systems
  • Strategies for finding, or finding out about, newspapers in the semantic web
Other paper topics relevant to the main conference theme will also be considered. 
As shown by surveys conducted by the National Library of Australia, the California Digital Newspaper Collection, the Cambridge Public Library, and others, historical newspapers are an important source of information for genealogists.  Not coincidentally, the IFLA International Newspaper Conference will be held just prior to the 2014 RootsTech Family History and Technology Conference Feb 6-8 (https://rootstech.org/).  We encourage authors and conference attendees to consider attending RootsTech as well as the International Newspaper Conference. 
Submission Guidelines
Paper topic abstract proposals must be submitted in English as Microsoft Word file and must include:

    • Title of proposed paper
    • Abstract of proposed paper (no more than 300 words)
    • Name(s) of author(s) plus position and/or title
    • Employer / affiliated institution
    • Contact information including email address, telephone number
    • Short biographical statement of author(s)
Abstracts must be submitted by December 1, 2013.  Proposal abstracts should be submitted to Sue Kellerman (LSK3@psu.edu). 
Notification of Accepted Papers
Authors of accepted papers will be notified by December 30, 2013.  

Accepted papers and public presentation
Complete accepted papers should be approximately 3,000-6,000 words in length and must be an original submission; not published elsewhere.  Accepted papers must be written in English.  The accepted paper will be made available on the IFLA Newspapers Section website.  A 20-25 minutes public presentation of a summary of the accepted paper will delivered at the International Newspaper Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah.   Any accompanying presentation PowerPoint slides must be submitted before the Conference by January 30, 2014.

Important Dates 
December 1, 2013             Paper topic abstract due
December 30, 2013           Acceptance notices sent to authors
January 30, 2014               Completed paper and slide presentation submitted

Please note  
The IFLA Newspapers Section regrets that it has no funding to assist prospective authors.  Moreover, the submission of an abstract must be on the understanding that the costs of attending the conference including registration, travel, accommodation and other expenses are the responsibility of the presenters of the accepted papers or their institutions. No financial support can be provided by IFLA.

To discuss any matters relating to this Call for Papers, please contact any of the following conference planning committee members:  Birdie MacLennan (bmaclenn@uvm.edu), Sue Kellerman (LSK3@psu.edu), or Frederick Zarndt (frederick@frederickzarndt.com).