CFP: HigherEd BlogCon

As you may know, I’m chairing the Library and Information Resources Track of HigherEd BlogCon, a totally online conference exploring the new technologies being used in higher education. Michelle Boule of the University of Houston is my fabulous partner-in-crime on this venture. The Call for Proposals for HigherEd BlogCon has been finalized, so I’m posting it here in the hopes that those of you interested in social technologies in libraries will submit a proposal. If you have any questions about the library track, feel free to contact me.

Call For Presenters

We invite you to propose presentations for HigherEd BlogCon 2006. Please refer to the detailed listing of tracks below for ideas from Section Chairs about the kinds of topics suitable for each track.

In each track, we welcome two kinds of proposals: 1) longer thought pieces demonstrating originality and expertise in the area being addressed, and 2) shorter pieces discussing applications the presenter has been involved in designing or building.

Vendor Proposals: Vendor proposals are welcome, but product pitches will not be considered.

Format of Proposal: 250-500 words, written. Proposals are a way for the review team to assess your contribution quickly. Please do not submit full presentations. Proposals should indicate the format in which you plan to offer your presentation (fully written, audio, screencast, etc.). They should also indicate whether you intend to present a longer thought piece or a shorter application-focused presentation.

Required Information to Accompany Proposal: Name, email address, institution, position, track in which presentation belongs (see below for a listing of the tracks). If you have questions about where your presentation belongs, please email us at higheredblogcon@gmail.com.

Suggested Information to Accompany Proposal: Author’s blog or website address.

Method of Proposal Submission: Please refer to the instructions found on the Proposals page.

Method of Presentation Submission: Presenters will be required to submit their final presentation material (or, in the case of an audio, screencast, or video presentation, a summary with links to it) via the conference blog, where it will be reviewed by the Section Chair and published on the blog at the appropriate time.

Proposal Review: Proposals will be reviewed by a team consisting of Section Chair and Section Editor, together with input from the conference planning committee. Interviews with Section Chairs provide detailed information about how each Section Chair plans to evaluate proposals.

Key Dates

Due Date for Proposals:January 31, 2006

Notification of Acceptance: February 20, 2006

Due Date for Presentations: March 15, 2006

Conference Track Detail

We invite you to submit proposals for presentation in the following tracks. Below are some suggestions about topics that might be appropriate in each track.

Library and Information Resources

* Library 2.0: What Does Web 2.0 Mean for Libraries?
* New Media and the New Librarian (What skills do librarians need to create the 2.0 Library?)
* Impact of social software on learning in library and information science.
* Using social software to communicate, educate, and build community online in libraries (blogs, Wikis, RSS, IM, podcasting, photo sharing, screencasting, etc.).
* Improving Access to Resources (Search engines, Federated Search, OpenURL, collaborative filtering, usability, accessibility, etc.)
* Web services and the library: seamless, interoperable, modular, reusable.
* User-created content (folksonomies, wikis, wiki-like function in the catalog, etc.)
* Does or should technology affect the way we define and teach information literacy?
* Guidelines for evaluating and recommending tools
* Emerging Technologies in Libraries: Looking Ahead

PR/Marketing/Development

* PR professionals and the faculty/staff/student blogger
* Top-down versus bottom-up
* Selecting student bloggers and podcasters for blogosphere campaigns
* Measuring and evaluating blogging and podcasting efforts
* Guidelines for students blogging and podcasting on behalf of the institution
* Consumer-generated media and new sources of marketing material
* Monitoring, evaluating, and responding to blogging about your institution
* Integrating new media efforts into existing campaigns
* PR/marketing and new media in non-recruiting contexts

Teaching

* Challenges surrounding intellectual property
* The changing nature of in-class activity in the age of podcast lectures
* Impact of new media on attendance patterns
* Impact of new media on online learning
* New media and course platforms
* What do new media mean for the so-called digital divide?
* Video versus screencast versus podcast
* Wikis and learning
* The RSS divide
* The role of games in education
* Open courseware
* Changing expectations of the student and teacher at the educational interface

Websites and Web Development

* The evolving role of the webmaster in the age of social tools (including how these technologies will affect working relationships across areas and disciplines)
* Uses of and coordination of RSS and syndication across the institution
* Implementation and utilization of social software and other applications in higher education websites
* Web standards and accessibility in blogs, wikis, etc.
* Utilizing students in the development of websites, web applications and social applications.
* Production and distribution methods for podcasting
* Choosing, installing and maintaining a blogging system
* On the horizon: next generation web 2.0 applications

Faculty Blogging (Under Development)

* Risk and reward
* Anonymity
* Professional versus professional/private versus private blogs

Student Life (Under Development)

* Developing a culture of blogging—why or why not?
* Educating students in new media

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