ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

ACRL NATIONAL CONFERENCE: Preparing for ACRL’s 11th National Conference: How to create competitive contributed papers

by Gloriana St. Clair

Giving a contributed pa- per at the 2003 ACRL National Conference, “Learning to Make a Dif- ference,” in Charlotte, April 10-13, 2003, is an excellent way for librar- ians to share research and to advance their careers.

Feedback received in the contributed paper forum can be used to improve the quality of the work and ensure its acceptance by a journal in librarianship. This short article makes a few suggestions for creating a suc- cessful abstract. Abstract authors can im- prove their chances for acceptance by read- ing and following these suggestions, which focus on five key areas:

1) Generalizability.The author’s challenge is always to show how the work relates to the challenges facing academic librarians. Clear statement of the problem the research will address is an excellent beginning.

2) “So what?”Like articles in most library journals, the contributed papers abstracts will be read by a panel of experts who will decide which ones will be selected for presentation at the conference. These experts want to know why the work proposed should be presented to the ACRL conference audience. The significance of the research at hand should be made as clear as possible.

3) Writing quality.High school and college professors who hammered students about the need for quality writing to succeed professionally were correct. Well-writ- ten abstracts with good organization, grammar, spelling, syntax, and word choice will outperform less well-written abstracts. Recruit the best writers in your organization to review the abstract before it is submitted.

4) Research and statistical quality.Poor survey and research design are heartbreaking for reviewers because so much effort has been put into a piece of work that can never be valid. Consult the experts on campus or in the profession about the design of the study and about its statistical dimensions.

5) Scholarly grounding.Abstracts are brief—only 250 to 500 words. They allow little space for the author to indicate the body of scholarship that informed the thinking behind the contributed paper. Abstract authors should indicate briefly that the work explores an idea unpublished in library literature or that it derives from and is a part of the work of several other studies in the field.

About the author I

Gloriana St. Clair is university librarian at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, e-mail: gstdair@andrew.cmu.edu

Quality contributed papers will enliven the Charlotte conference. Attendees will be buzzing with comments about the thought- provoking presentations they have heard. Creating a successful abstract can be easy if the suggestions above are noted.

Contributed papers are due on May 31, 2002. The Call for Participation is available online at http://www.ala.org/acrl/charlotte/ cfp.html. Abstracts of 250 to 500 words should be sent to: Gloriana St. Clair, University Librarian, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, 4909 Frew Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890; (412) 268-2447; fax (412) 268-2793; e-mail: gstclair@andrew.cmu.edu.