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Request for Proposals for LRS VI


The Library Research Round Table (LRRT) of the American Library Association is seeking institutions to organize and coordinate the next Library Research Seminar (LRS VI), an international conference focusing on research within the library and information science profession and discipline.  These institutions should have records of support for research and in organizing meeting.  Success for LRS depends on an infrastructure in place and institutional support.  Preference will be given to institutions that offer ALA-accredited master's programs in library and information science or libraries that are committed to breadth and depth of research.

LRS has met every three years in the recent past; the next event will preferably be held in the fall of 2013.  A goal of the Seminar planning is to offer the event in distributed geographic locations across North America.  LRS V was held in 2010 in College Park, MD.

The Seminar is self-supporting and non-profit.  Surplus funds from the preceding event are transferred to the institution hosting the next LRS.  Corporate sponsorship, institutional support, and grant funding is encouraged.

Hosting LRS VI requires a site and a facility, either on or near the sponsoring institution that meets these criteria:


Ø  Provides a conference planning service

Ø  Has lodging, dining, and meeting space for approximately 200 attendees

Ø  Offers lodging, meeting, and dining space within close proximity of one another

Ø  Includes meeting spaces capable of supporting keynote addresses for all attendees, plus rooms that can accommodate juried paper sessions, panel discussions, workshops, and roundtable discussions (approximately 50-75 attendees per session)

Ø  Provide these facilities in the months of October or November without conflict of major local events (e.g., football games)

Ø  Capability of proving the needed facilities for the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the Seminar

Ø  Has extensive and convenient transportation, including air travel, services

Ø  Provides a cost-effective with reasonable fees and travel expenses

LRS is a research meeting that can include empirical, methodological, and conceptual work with the field of library and information science.  It can include (but is not limited to) the following kinds of scholarship:


·        Quantitative and/or qualitative inquiry

·        Research on function, such as information seeking and retrieval, services, classification, or management

·        Inquiry related to specific environments, such as public, academic, special or school libraries

·        Research conducted by students

·        Collaborative work between professional practitioners and educators

Examples of potential topics for seminar programs and presentations can include (but are not limited to:


o   Foundations of the profession of librarianship

o   Access to information

o   Existing and emerging technologies

o   Organizational and management challenges

o   Information Policy

o   Preservation, conservation, and archiving

o   International and comparative librarianship

o   Service to at-risk populations

o   Research methodologies

o   Education for the profession

Interested institutions should send a detailed proposal of no longer than ten (10) pages.  The proposal must address all of the above criteria and should also include any other information and/or data that can be useful to deciding upon the venue.  Send the proposals to:

John M. Budd
School of Information Science & Learning Technologies
University of Missouri
303 Townsend Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Phone: 573.882.3258

The deadline for submission of proposals is August 31, 2012.  The site selection will be made by the LRRT Steering Committee and the venue will be announced by October, 2012.

For information about the preceding Seminar, see: http://www.lrsv.umd.edu/.



John M. Budd
Professor, School of Information Science & Learning Technologies
University of Missouri
303 Townsend Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: 573.882.3258
Fax: 573.884.4944
Email: [log in to unmask]