Who may propose a session?

Staff and faculty from AMICAL member institutions are invited to submit proposals.

If you are planning to have a co-presenter, note that

• The co-presenter must be an equal partner in the development and delivery of your session.
• The following limits apply to the number of speakers associated with the same proposal:
  • Lightning Talks: 1 speaker
  • Panel Presentations: 6 speakers max
  • All other formats: 2 speakers max
• If a co-presenter is not from a member institution, you should discuss this possibility with the Program Committee (contact@amicalnet.org) before submitting your proposal.

Audience

Librarians, faculty, technologists…

The target audience for sessions may include:

• librarians
• disciplinary faculty
• faculty developers
• instructional technologists
• others involved with the planning or application of information technology and services in learning.

Proposals that target more than one of these groups are more likely to be accepted into the program.

AMICAL institutions

Proposals that clearly target AMICAL members — that speak to issues of special relevance to AMICAL institutions, with their American-international liberal arts environments — are especially welcome.

Topics

You are welcome to propose a session on any topic that relates to libraries, technology and learning at AMICAL member institutions.

Proposals have a higher chance of being accepted, however, if they relate closely to one of the following:

A. The conference theme: “Centering on learning”

We welcome proposals on topics related to the conference theme: “Centering on learning: Partnerships and professional development among librarians, faculty and technologists”.

Some examples of questions that could be addressed by sessions include:

• Regarding “teaching & learning centers” or other programs for improvement of pedagogy and learning environments:
  • What kinds of challenges and/or successes have you seen with their planning or implementation?
  • How are disciplinary faculty, faculty developers, instructional technologists and/or librarians collaborating on such initiatives?
  • Do you have insights to share from experience with inter-institutional collaboration in this area?
• How are librarians, faculty and technologists at your institution partnering on
  • Information literacy instruction?
  • Digital scholarship?
  • Digital pedagogy?
  • Digital collections?
  • Assessment?
• Proposals on other questions and topics related to our theme would be welcomed as well.

B. Strategic priorities for AMICAL’s 2015-2018 Mellon grant

Proposals may be favored if they relate to one of the 4 strategic priority areas for our 2015-2018 Mellon Foundation grant, which is providing the core support for this Conference:

1. Leadership of Library and Information Services in Liberal Arts Environments
   • leadership skills, innovation, and change management among library and information services teams
2. Information Literacy as a Liberal Art
   • working critically with information: a hallmark of liberal education, and part of the ‘brand’ of American universities
3. Curriculum-Integrated Digital Initiatives
   • digital scholarship, digital pedagogy, and curriculum-relevant digital collections: ideal areas for collaboration between librarians, faculty and technologists
4. Growing the AMICAL Collaboration Network
   • resources for online collaboration – and in particular a network for discovery of, and exchange between, faculty and staff at AMICAL institutions

C. Focus areas of AMICAL Standing Committees

• Professional Development
• Institutional Research & Assessment
• E-Resources
• OCLC Programs
• Information Literacy
• Digital Pedagogy
• Digital Scholarship
• Digital Collections

Session formats

Sessions may be proposed using any of the following five formats:

1. Community Idea Exchange
2. Birds of a Feather
3. Mini-Workshops
4. Lightning Talks
5. Panel Presentations

Before you draft your proposal, be sure to read the details below about how these formats are being used at AMICAL 2017.

Community Idea Exchange (posters & tech showcases)

Duration: 1h to 1.5h

• Informal presentations given with the help of a poster, computer or other visual aid.
• Focus may be on local initiatives/projects/resources (technology-focused or otherwise), research, challenges for which you’re seeking assistance, or any source of material likely to be of broad interest to attendees.
• Presentations are delivered simultaneously in a space shared with other presenters, each with a poster or computer to present their topic or project to attendees that come and go freely.
• Presentations may be as brief as 5 minutes, repeated over the duration of the session and adapted in response to attendees’ questions and interests.

Birds of a Feather (guided discussion)

Duration: 1h

• Discussion on a topic of shared interest, guided by a facilitator with either expertise or strong interest in the topic.
• During the session the facilitator will begin with a brief introduction to the topic and the scope of the discussion (no longer than 10 minutes). Thereafter they will encourage the active participation of attendees in the discussion, guiding the conversation when necessary to stay on track.
• In their proposal, the facilitator should include the topic, the scope of the discussion, as well as possible outcomes from the session.
• A note-taker should be identified from among the participants. Along with the facilitator, they will write a brief report on the session to share on AMICAL Connect, allowing for broader participation in a continued discussion.

Mini-Workshop

Duration: variable (1h to 2h)

• Hands on, participatory session focused on helping participants build practical skills on a given topic.
• Proposals should focus on achieving one or two important outcomes for the attendees, instead of trying to hit a broad range of targets. It is better to cover less material well, than to have an overambitious outline that forces you to rush through the workshop.
• Workshop facilitators should plan for things taking more time than you thought they would. They always do.

Lightning Talk

Duration: 8m

• Short presentations that focus on communicating just one or two ideas.
• A good rule to follow for our event is 8x16x32:
  • prepare for 8 minutes of talking
  • use a maximum of 16 slides (preferably less!)
  • use a minimum font size of 32pt for text
• Time limit for the speaker to talk: 8 minutes
• Suggestions if you’re proposing a Lightning Talk:
  • Don’t think of this as “a shortened version of my 20-minute presentation”.
  • Read 16 ways to prepare for a lightning talk.

Panel Presentation

Duration: 15m max per speaker, up to 1h max total including Q&A

• Presentations and/or discussion by several participants centered on a common theme.
• Panel may include 2-6 speakers, with:
  • at least 2 AMICAL institutions represented
  • no more than 3 speakers from each institution
• Proposal must:
  • name a moderator, who will be responsible for coordinating presenters
  • communicate clearly how the panelists’ presentations relate to each other and to a larger topic pertinent to AMICAL’s mission

Preparing your proposal

The proposal itself should be presented clearly and concisely. You may want to look at these sample proposals; they’re for a different type of conference, but the advice is very relevant to AMICAL Conference proposals as well.

Some key points to keep in mind:

• Preferred session format: Think carefully about which format is most appropriate for the content you want to share and the way you want to engage with attendees. If we feel your proposal would fit better into the program as a different format, we may ask you to consider that.
• Title: Should communicate the subject of the session briefly and clearly.
• Summary/Abstract/Additional details: Write each of these for their specific purpose, as explained on the form. .

Criteria for proposal reviewing

Below are the primary criteria that will be used by reviewers. Proposals that meet more of these criteria will have a better chance of being accepted.

• Speaker
  • Is the speaker qualified to speak on the proposed topic?
  • Is this speaker from an institution or professional role that is underrepresented in AMICAL event programs? This is not a requirement, but in some cases it may tip the scale in favor of the proposal.
• Target audience
  • Is the targeted audience aligned with the guidelines above?
• Topic/content
  • Is the topic of the proposed session
    • collaborative in nature? Does it focus on a collaboration across institutions or professional roles?
    • focused on actionable ideas? Does it focus on ideas that can later be implemented by attendees at their own institutions (or across institutions)?
  • Does the proposal focus on one of the stated topical frames?
    • The conference theme
    • Strategic priorities for AMICAL’s 2015-2018 Mellon grant
    • AMICAL Standing Committee topics
• Session format
  • Is the format selected appropriate to the proposal (topic, session plans, and expected outcomes)?

Notification of acceptance

Responses to program proposals will be sent out by 10 February 2016.

Scheduling

Accepted proposals may be scheduled for any day or time during the main program days (18-20 May 2016). For accepted proposals, tentative scheduling will be communicated by late February 2017.

Speakers should inform the organizers as early as possible of any scheduling constraints; we cannot guarantee that these constraints will be accommodated, but we will do our best if given sufficient notice.

Financial support

The details for our financial support program to assist with attendees’ travel and participation costs will be posted at a later date. One criteria in evaluating financial support requests will be whether the attendee is playing an active role in the event, for example by leading a session which has been accepted into the program.

Propose a session

The call for proposals has ended!
If you have any questions about your proposal, email us at amicalconf@amicalnet.org.