ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

C&RL News submission guidelines

Editorial purpose

College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News)publishes articles, reports, and essays written by practitioners addressing philosophy and techniques of day-to-day management of academic library services and collections. C&RL News provides current information relating to issues, activities, and personalities of the higher education and academic/research library field. User education, technology, professional education, preservation, government actions that affect libraries, public relations, acquisitions of special collections, grants to libraries, reports on meetings, products, and the business of ACRL are covered in C&RL News. Established in 1966, C&RL News is the official newsmagazine and publication of record of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). It maintains a record of selected actions and policy statements of the association and publishes timely reports on the activities of ACRL and its units. It is published 11 times per year.

Content

The editor bears all responsibility for the content of each issue of C&RL News and selects all material for publication. The editor also reserves the right to make appropriate revisions in material selected for publication in order to standardize style or improve clarity (except official ACRL documents). Note: Formal, theoretical, or research-oriented articles inappropriate for C&RL News will be forwarded to the editor of College & Research Libraries for consideration.

Material selected should fall into one of the following categories:

1. Articles on a project, program, or service dealing with a topic relevant to academic librarianship (e.g., “Academic librarians as advisors,” October 2000).

2. Reports for “Conference Circuit” that summarize the highlights and significance of a recent conference, workshop, or meeting of interest to academic or research librarians (e.g., “The Associated Colleges of the Midwest,” May 2001).

3. Essays for “The Way I See It” that offer reasoned and informed speculation or comment on relevant topics (e.g., “Print book bibliographies on the Web,” March 2001).

4. Topics for the “Internet Resources” column. Submit a topic idea and brief information about the compiler’s knowledge of the proposed topic. Compilers whose topics are selected will receive specific manuscript preparation information (e.g., “Resources for library assessment,” January 2001).

5. Essays for “Focus on Libraries” that describe new or innovative services or facilities (“Sharing the wealth,” April 2001).

6. Essays that explore the ACRL President's theme. The theme for 2001-2002 is “ACRL: The Learning Community for Excellence in Academic Libraries.”

7. Humorous essays and cartoons related to issues of academic librarianship and higher education (e.g., “Field guide to library managers,” April 1999).

8. Essays for the “Scholarly Communication” column (“portal,” May 2001).

9. Standards, guidelines, or recommendations of an ACRL committee or other official ACRL group (e.g., “Objectives for information literacy instruction,” April 2001).

10. Requests for the donation of books or materials to libraries. C&RL News may occasionally initiate requests for the donation of books or materials to libraries, especially foreign libraries, which have suffered extensive loss through fire, hurricane, or natural disaster. Other libraries soliciting contributions for other reasons will be referred to the rates for classified advertising in C&RL News.

Instructions to authors

1. Style.Articles should be practical and written in an informal, accurate, and informative manner and follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed.

Manuscripts should be original and not published elsewhere. (Exceptions may be made for items previously published in institutional newsletters.) Footnotes, charts, and tables should be kept to a minimum.

2. Length.News notes may be 150-350 words; reports of meetings for the “Conference Circuit” should be 750-1,000 words; essays for “The Way I See It” should be 750-1,000 words; articles should be no more than 2,000 words.

3. Graphics.Whenever possible, photographs, illustrations, images from Web sites, etc., should accompany article submissions. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use graphic materials. Submit camera-ready artwork for all illustrations. On the back of each photograph include a brief caption, credits (if appropriate) and your name, address, phone number, and e-mail.

4. Submitting manuscripts.Manuscripts must be submitted electronically to the editor at sorphan@ala.org. (Note: An e-mail note of inquiry may precede submission of the article.)

Ed, note: These guidelines were adopted by the C&RL News Editorial Board at the 2001 Annual Conference in San Francisco. ■