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Dear Colleagues,

Dave Penniman and I, co-editors of *Advances in Librarianship,* and would
like to receive chapter proposals for volume 36, to be published in 2013 on
the theme of * **Mergers, Alliances, Collaborations, and Partnerships.*



While corporate mergers make headlines, similar efforts in library and
information

science are less vociferously touted. They are occurring, however, amongst
libraries, degree programs, and enterprises such as networks and consortia.
Public libraries partner with community groups in order to strengthen the
political clout of both. They are occurring as governments mandate
consolidation of operations amongst agencies under their purview in order
to reduce or curtail expenditures. Academic libraries are partnering with
other internal units such as writing centers and externally with agencies
such as research laboratories. They are also collaborating with peer
institutions to develop resources in developing collections instead of
competing and duplicating materials in their collections. North America has
experienced increasing numbers of public library and museum collaborations
as well as public library and school media centers partnerships. Regional
networks have consolidated operations and become larger entities. This
volume of Advances in Librarianship seeks to provide a comprehensive review
of the factors that lead to mergers and other alliances, the methods used
to ensure effective and successful collaborations, and descriptions of the
factors which contributed to less successful efforts at consolidation.
Original research, case studies, literature reviews and conceptual papers
are sought as chapters for this volume.



Topics of interest for proposed chapters can include, but are not limited
to, the following:

• Structural and operational mergers such as technical services and
collection management in two or more library and information science
environments;

• The impact and benefits of expanding electronic tools such as social
networks, and shared digital spaces such as Dropbox and Google Docs on
blended or joint initiatives;

• Experiences in higher education with combining programs and other
educational experiences for students and faculty across disciplines and
spanning two or more institutions;

• The fiscal results of mergers and multi-institutional operations amongst
groups of libraries of all kinds;

• Policy, work reallocation and structural changes within merging
operations;

• Research about corporate experiences and the lessons or guidance they can
provide for the not for profit sector;

• Changes in workflow and organizational structures and other behavioral
issues arising in merged organizations;

• The lessons, successes and failures in creating teams across previously
separate organizations;

• Human resource implications and impact on unions in settings that have
joint or merged services and operations;
• Studies of the factors that stimulated formation of merged entities,
alliances amongst diverse groups/entities.


Proposals can be in the form of an abstract or an outline.

Please submit chapter proposals to the Editors at *
[log in to unmask]* <[log in to unmask]> or
[log in to unmask] and *[log in to unmask] *or
[log in to unmask]

Questions and comments should be submitted via e-mail to us.

*The due dates are:*

For chapter proposal outlines: *April 1, 2012*

For first drafts of chapters: *September 1, 2012*

For final drafts of chapters after receipt of editorial comments: *December
1, 2012*