Call for Papers for Theme Issue

Journal call for papers from

Staffing Trends and their Service Implications

Reference Services Review (RSR) is seeking authors to write on the theme of staffing trends and their impact on service design and delivery. The theme issue Volume 40 Number 4, will be published in November 2012. Completed manuscripts are due by June 1, 2012 so as to allow adequate time for peer review and revisions.　 Manuscripts are evaluated using a double-blind peer review process.

Authors can expect to work on major and/or minor revisions in mid-to-late June and July 2012

The journal is pre-published through Emerald EarlyCite http://www.emeraldinsight.com/authors/writing/earlycite.htm?PHPSESSID=2rl81bpeu186f25o4og6j29p61
and issues are made available before the official publication date. More details about the journal, including author guidelines are at:  http://www.emeraldinsight.com/rsr.htm

Papers might focus on
• Who and what is a librarian today and in the future
• Value of an MLS/MLIS degree
• Hiring non-MLS/MLIS staff in librarian positions: trends and training implications
• Hiring non-librarian professionals (technologists, human resource professionals, budget analysts etc.): trends and service implications
• Hiring temporary librarians: trends, training and service implications
• Today’s library workforce: trends, training and service implications
• Tomorrow’s library workforce:  trends, training and projected service implications
• Demographic challenges among library staff and user populations, and their impact on staffing and service
• Staff composition changes: how the mix is changing and how these changes impact services
• Changing role of library professionals and their impact at the front line, behind the scenes, and for our institutional and individual futures
• Staffing requirements: what skills, competencies etc. are needed to meet the needs of next generation users
• Enhancing staff skills and knowledge to meet the evolving service needs of digital generations: education, training, continuing education/professional development
• Balancing the service needs of “digitally-divided” user populations, digital haves and have-nots.
• Research on staffing models in libraries and information centers
• Other aspects of staffing libraries and information centers in the digital age
• Challenges of all the above for LIS educators
• Challenges of all of the above for organizations--local, regional, state, national and international

Please send expressions of interest, proposals, abstracts or inquiries to:

Eleanor Mitchell mitchele@dickinson.edu or
Sarah Barbara Watstein: watsteins@uncw.edu.

Reference Services Review (RSR) is a quarterly, refereed, international journal dedicated to the enrichment of reference knowledge and the advancement of reference and library user services.

RSR covers all aspects of reference and library user services, including reference, instruction, and user service design, delivery, management and assessment;  marketing and communication; user populations; electronic services; virtual reference services; cooperative reference services; existing and emerging technologies and their intersection with service design and delivery; service forecasting; standards, guidelines and best practices;  performance of reference and user services providers; and professional competencies for reference and user services librarians.

RSR prepares its readers to understand key trends and to respond to critical challenges affecting reference functions, instructional services and the information needs of library users.  RSR contributors draw on current research and practice; their own considerable expertise, experience and perspectives; and the expertise of their home communities to identify issues, practices and technologies that are relevant to service design, delivery, management and assessment.

RSR articles include research papers, technical papers, conceptual papers, case studies, literature reviews, and reviews of previously published research on a wide number of topics. Commentary, including point/counterpoint articles, is also welcome. Mini theme and theme issues support the more detailed exploration of topics. A diverse mix of authors and contributors enhance the journal’s value, as does an international team of editorial advisors.

Eleanor Mitchell
Director
Waidner-Spahr Library
Dickinson College
PO Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013
USA

Sarah Barbara Watstein
University Librarian
William Madison Randall Library
University of North Carolina Wilmington
601 South College Road
Wilmington, NC 28403-5616
USA