2009 Library Research Round Table Forums at ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, IL

The Library Research Round Table (LRRT) will sponsor two Research Forums at the 2009 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, IL (July 9 – 15).  The LRRT Forums are a set of programs at the ALA Annual Conference featuring presentations of LIS research, in progress or completed, followed by discussion.  Two LRRT Research Forums are scheduled for 2009, one on general LIS research and one on a more specific topic that will emerge as we evaluate the submissions. The two forums are:

Research to Understand Users: Issues and Approaches

This session will feature three library-related research papers investigating users and their use of libraries and information.  An LRRT committee will select the winning papers based on quality of study design, significance of the research topic, and potential for significant contribution to librarianship.

Four-Star Research

This session will feature three library-related research papers describing studies of libraries and librarianship.  An LRRT committee will select the winning papers based on quality and creativity of study design, significance of the research topic, and potential for significant contribution to librarianship.

This is an opportunity to present and discuss your research project conducted in the broad area of library and information science or in a more specialized area of the field. LRRT welcomes papers emphasizing the problems, theories, methodologies, or significance of research findings for LIS.  Topics can include, but are not limited to, user studies and user behavior, electronic services, service effectiveness, organizational structure and personnel, library value determination, and evaluation of library and information services.  Both completed research and research in progress will be considered.  All researchers, including practitioners from all types of libraries, library school faculty and students, and other interested individuals are encouraged to submit proposals.  LRRT Members and nonmembers of LRRT are invited and welcomed to submit proposals.

The Committee will use a blind review process to select a maximum of six projects, three for each of the two forums.  The selected researchers will be required to present their papers in person at the forums and to register for the conference.  Criteria for selection are:

1.     Significance of the study to library and information science research;

2.     Quality and creativity of the methodology;

3.     Potential to fill a research gap or to build on previous LIS studies;

4.     Adherence to submission requirements (see below).

Please submit a two-page proposal by Friday, December 19, 2008.  Late submissions will not be considered, and submissions must be limited to two pages in length.  On the first page, please list your name(s), title(s), institutional affiliation(s), and contact information (telephone number, mailing address, and email address).  The second page should NOT show your name or any other identifying information.  Instead, it must include: 1) The title of your project, and 2) A 500-word abstract.  The abstract must include a problem statement, problem significance, project objectives, methodology, and conclusions (or tentative conclusions for work in progress), and an indication of whether the research is in-progress or completed. Previously published research or research accepted for publication by December 19, 2008, will not be considered.

Notification of acceptance will be made by Monday, February 27, 2009. Please send submissions (via email or snail mail) to:

Larry Nash White, Ph.D.

Library Research Round Table Chair-Elect

Assistant Professor

1108 Joyner Library

Department of Library Science

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC  27858

Phone: 252-328-2315

Email: whitel@ecu.edu

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH DELAWARE, Ohio: November – Saturday,  November 22, 2008 6:49 PM — The Delaware County Law Library Association owes the county and city governments $75,980 in public money it collected but did not use in 2005 and 2006, a state audit has found.

Under state law, the library receives a portion of fines paid by motorists who violated liquor-control and traffic laws in the county. At the end of each year, the library must return at least 90 percent of any unused public money to the county, townships or municipalities where the tickets were issued.

The association incorrectly calculated its unspent balance in 2005 and 2006, according to the audit released Nov. 13 by Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor’s office.

The association now owes $64,403.68 to Delaware County and $11,576.58 to the city of Delaware.

The audit also identified errors in financial statements totaling $310,000 in 2006 and 2007.

Those errors were corrected during the audit, said Emily Frazee, a spokeswoman for the auditor’s office.

A former law librarian’s bookkeeping errors led to the miscalculated refunds, said Joe Schmansky, president of the library’s board of trustees.

For example, in 2006, the librarian prematurely recorded expenses when bills or contracts were received, instead of when they were paid, which could mean that the county was overpaid in 2007, Schmansky said.

“At best, the county will be entitled to a few thousand, if that,” Schmansky said.

Meanwhile, the association continues to battle county government in another dispute about money.

In August, attorneys for the association filed a lawsuit in county Common Pleas Court saying that an audit of county records is needed to determine how much money the county owes the library. In 2005, a county clerk discovered an accounting error that funneled money meant for the library into the county’s budget.

The recent audit findings will have little effect on the lawsuit, Schmansky said.

“It doesn’t change the fact, in our opinion, that the county owes millions back to us.”

dwilson@dispatch.com