A call for proposals in 2 rounds: overview and deadlines

Member proposals are the primary source of material for our annual conference program, and this year we’re calling for them in two rounds:

• Round 1 (outline proposals due 28 October): propose early ideas and benefit from feedback from the Program Committee — required for some session formats
• Round 2 (fully-formed proposals due 25 November): for revisions of Round 1 proposals, and new proposals willing to risk review without Program Committee feedback.

We’re hoping that this two-stage CFP will give us more time to work with members on shaping their proposals. We’re also hoping that the two stages will allow members more influence on the overall shape of the event, by sharing ideas with us — ideas that you’re willing to invest time in developing — earlier in the program planning process.

Eligibility of speakers

If you’re a staff or faculty member from an AMICAL member institution and you believe you can lead a session that would be useful to a substantial group of other AMICAL Conference attendees, you’re welcome to submit a proposal following the guidelines here. The AMICAL Conference is intended to cultivate peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and community building, and speakers are therefore restricted to AMICAL members.

Exceptions to this rule can be made if the depth, complexity or newness of your proposed session content requires an external (non-member) invited speaker or co-presenter. Plans to invite an external speaker should first be discussed and approved by the Program Committee (via contact@amicalnet.org) before submitting the proposal. In general, these exceptions tend to be for major pre-conference workshops lasting a day or longer.

External keynote speakers are decided upon by the Program Committee in a process separate from this CFP. Suggestions for keynote speakers may be sent via contact@amicalnet.org.

Limits on presenters per session

We strongly recommend the following limits on the number of presenters/co-presenters associated with the same proposal:

• Lightning Talks: 1 speaker
• Panel Presentations: 6 speakers max, including the moderator
• All other formats: 2 speakers max (if your session requires more than this, each presenter’s distinct role for the session must be clearly explained in the proposal)

Co-presenters

If you are planning to have a co-presenter during your session, and the above limits allow for this, note that:

• You should only list a co-presenter in your proposal (and therefore in the program, if accepted) if they are a major partner in the development and delivery of your session.
• For accepted session proposals that involve multiple speakers, additional speakers are not guaranteed of receiving the same consideration for financial support as the principal speaker.

Need to recognize your many co-authors? We recognize that some presentations represent the work of additional people beyond the above limits, and you are welcome to recognize them in your presentation description and materials you share. However, to manage the flow of presentations and respect the time limits inherent in our program, we will only allow the numbers above to take the floor as speakers. Conference communications, including the program, are intended to represent the actual event speakers and will therefore only include names within the limits above.

Audience

Professional profiles

AMICAL 2019 aims for a balance of participation from among librarians, technologists and faculty members. We’re expecting that attendees will be largely represented by:

• heads of libraries, IT or instructional technology services, academic departments or programs, etc.
• colleagues with substantial experience or interest the AMICAL 2019 theme and topics (staff, faculty and administrators)

Proposals should aim for direct relevance to at least one of these groups. Proposals that involve or discuss collaboration across professional roles (e.g. librarian-faculty-technologist) are particularly encouraged.

Focus on 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 particularly encouraged.
• Proposals that have not been adapted for AMICAL’s audience are discouraged.

Topics

You may propose a session on any topic pertinent to libraries, technology and learning at AMICAL member institutions.

Proposals are more likely to be accepted if they relate closely to the conference theme of “Openness in Teaching and Research: Broadening Our Horizons for the Digital Future”, or if they relate in other direct ways to the goals of the Mellon grant supporting this event: “Building Leadership and Capacity for Digital Liberal Arts across AMICAL”.

The topics below are meant as suggestions, and you are welcome to propose other topics that relate to AMICAL’s consortial mission, or to the Mellon grant supporting this event: “Building Leadership and Capacity for Digital Liberal Arts across AMICAL”.

Open scholarship

Open Access Publishing, Open Educational Resources, public licensing, author rights, copyright, research data management, and institutional support for these:

• How can we commit to openness in our everyday work?
• How is open scholarship supporting inclusivity and diversity in the student population

Assessment, data, and transparency

Openly disseminated research and teaching materials, transparency in assessing teaching and learning, open data in research and teaching:

• What are the Assumptions and Challenges of Open Scholarship and Teaching?
• What are the methods for measuring open academic initiatives?
• What is the impact of open educational resources on learners?
• How can we advocate for data, openness and transparency in measuring quality of teaching and learning?

Data sharing and archiving practices, advocacy for open access to data, use of open data for new fields of research, use of government data:

• How can we advocate for openness?

Digital collections

Existing systems within AMICAL, institutional policies and practices in managing born-digital collections, designing digital collections, use of digital collections in the classroom:

• How do we create access to open content (collectively!)? How can we open our collections?

Digital pedagogy & digital humanities

Digital Humanities in the syllabus, teaching digital tools, students as creators of meaningful content, skills and support required for Digital Humanities teaching and research, digital liberal arts:

• How does openness in scholarship impact teaching? What are its limitations?
• What can AMICAL members usefully share with each other, and with the world, about successful integration of digital tools & methods into humanities coursework?

Information literacy & digital literacies

Gen Ed and other institution-level commitments to information/digital literacies, ownership & responsibility for information/digital literacy initiatives, integration of information/digital literacies into course design.

• Who should be responsible for (which part of) information literacy initiatives? digital literacies initiatives?
• What are useful and strategic ways for AMICAL members to share resources they’ve developed around information/digital literacies?

Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations

Breaking down disciplinary silos and institutional boundaries to improve our research and teaching, expanding our classroom to improve the student experience, community outreach in teaching and research, collaborative digital humanities:

• How does opening our institutions impact those around us? How does it impact our students?
• What are existing examples of, and future opportunities for, course-integrated digital project collaborations across AMICAL?

Innovative & effective library, technology and academic leadership

Managing change and innovation, strategic professional development, organizational development and restructuring, strategies for cross-professional collaboration, changing roles within evolving liberal arts institutions, re-envisioning curricula for the digital present and future:

• What kinds of environmental changes are underway at AMICAL institutions, and how can library/technology/academic leaders identify and act on key opportunities those changes represent?

Innovative & effective teaching

Digital education, collaborative teaching, faculty development:

• How can members build – collaboratively – local resources and capacities for innovative and effective teaching?

Session formats

Session proposals should use one of the formats listed below, keeping in mind that duration and other details may be adjusted later by the organizers due to planning constraints.

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, and one or more possible follow-up activities (whose impact may be at the individual, institutional or consortial level).
• The facilitator should encourage participants to undertake one of the prepared follow-up activities (or any others that develop during the session) whether as individuals or as a group

Mini-Workshop (Round 1 CFP required)

Duration: variable

• 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.
• Should be about an idea (intended to spark related ideas or reflection, to inspire, to persuade, etc.), not reporting on activities or trying to convey substantial amounts of information
• As a plenary session, the target audience needs to span multiple professional roles
• 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.

Participatory Project Meetings

Duration: variable (1h to 2h)

• Meetings that require participation from a substantial subset of the expected conference attendees, not just the committee or project team.
• Project meetings that do not require this kind of participation should not be proposed through this call, but should be held online before or after the event (or organized informally at the event, outside of the scheduled sessions)
• The proposal must indicate clearly the role and responsibility of each team member (relative to the project, and to this session in particular) in order for those team members to be eligible for funding for attendance
• Meetings can only be proposed if they are linked to projects which
  • have broad expected impact across numerous AMICAL member institutions
  • are being supported by AMICAL through funding or official announcements
  • are in a state of being actively planned, implemented or maintained

Panel Presentation (Round 1 CFP required)

Duration: 1.5h max (20m max per speaker, including 15m max speaking, 5m Q&A)

• Presentations and/or discussion by several participants centered on a common theme.
• Panels may include 2-6 speakers, including a moderator, with:
  • at least 2 AMICAL institutions represented
  • no more than 3 speakers from each institution
• The proposal should name a moderator who will be responsible for coordinating presenters, as well as having an active and substantive speaking role explained in the proposal.
• The moderator should draft the proposal and demonstrate an intentional structuring of the panel and responsibility for its success.
• The proposal should communicate clearly how the panelists’ presentations relate to each other and to a larger topic pertinent to AMICAL’s mission.
• As a plenary session, the target audience needs to span multiple professional roles.
• If a number of other proposals (e.g. Lightning Talks) are sufficiently related, the organizers may ask the speakers to organize themselves as a panel.
• Only during the Round 1 CFP: an individual may propose a presentation which is not yet associated with a panel. If the proposal fulfills the review criteria on other grounds besides format and could form a good panel with one or more other proposals received, the speaker may be invited to collaborate on a full Round 2 proposal for a panel.

Full Workshop (Round 1 CFP required)

Number of sessions anticipated: 1-2 (in addition to TALIX, the Teaching and Learning Innovation Exchange, already planned)

Duration: variable (1 to 1.5 full days)

• Hands on, intensive, participatory event focused on helping participants build practical skills on a given topic.
• Participants may be expected to bring specific projects on which to apply the skills or knowledge being developed, with pre- and post-workshop tasks to maximize the relevance and impact of the event.
• Target audience should be clear, and there should be a mechanism for participants to self-select or be selected (i.e. preparatory work or an application process)
• An external speaker may be invited if the depth, complexity or newness of your proposed session content requires external expertise. If the proposal is accepted, AMICAL would cover the cost of bringing the speaker (possibly including speaking fees, if necessary).

Other session formats

You have the option of proposing a session format not listed above. If you provide a compelling argument for using that format, we may consider including it. If we’re unable to accommodate the proposed format, but the proposal is of interest on other grounds, we may suggest changing to one of the formats above.

Preparing your proposal

The proposal content should be drafted as a separate document before entering it in the proposal form below.

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. You should only propose Workshop or BOAF formats, for example, if you are planning to minimize lecturing and favor active participation. If we feel your proposal would fit better into the program as a different format, we may ask you to consider that change.
• Title: Should communicate the subject of the session briefly and clearly. It should reflect the specific content of your session; it is not necessary to use the specific words of the conference theme or topics.
• 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 qualifications and role alignment
  • Depending on the nature of the session: are the speakers
    • qualified to speak on the proposed topic?
    • in a role at their institution that aligns appropriately with the topic or session objective proposed?
• Balance of representation
  • Are the speakers from an institution or professional role that is underrepresented in AMICAL programs, including the anticipated program for AMICAL 2019? This is not a requirement, but proposals from overrepresented institutions/roles will need to be particularly strong in other criteria.
  • For sessions with multiple speakers, a balance of speakers from different institutions and/or roles is preferred.
• Target audience coherence
  • Does the stated target audience align with the target audience implied by the rest of the proposal content?
  • Does the target audience implied by the proposal content align with the guidelines above?
• Original contribution
  • Does the proposed session represent an original/innovative contribution in some useful context (their own institution, institutions of similar sizes/environments, among AMICAL members)?
• Anticipated impact
  • Does the proposed session appear likely to have impact on actual practice or resources at other AMICAL institutions, or at their own institution?
• Collaborative
  • To what extent is the proposed session collaborative in nature (relating to collaboration across institutions, or across professional roles)?
• Alignment with theme and topics
  • To what extent does the proposal focus on the Conference’s theme and targeted topics?
• Appropriate session format
  • Is the format selected appropriate to the proposal (e.g. in terms of topic, session plans, expected outcomes, interactivity, depth of detail, etc.)?
  • Does the breadth of audience allowed by the format (e.g. plenary vs. small group) align with their stated target audience?

Financial support for speakers

Full information about financial support for members to attend AMICAL 2019 will be announced before the close of the Round 2 CFP. As usual, being the primary speaker on an accepted proposal will be one of the primary criteria for Full and Affiliate AMICAL members seeking travel support. Financial support for co-presenters may also be made partially available, budget permitting.

Round 1 proposals (deadline 28 October)

Those submitting a proposal in Round 1 should communicate the spirit of what they’re trying to do with the session. Proposals should address the criteria listed above, but may be brief and in outline form, leaving open certain aspects of the session to be developed later. (But more fully-formed proposals are also welcome.)

Who should submit in Round 1?

• Strongly encouraged for all members interested in contributing a session to the AMICAL 2019 program
• REQUIRED for proposals for planning-intensive sessions (Full Workshops, Mini-Workshops, and Panel Sessions)

Advantages to submitting in Round 1

If you submit to Round 1 you will receive feedback from the Program Committee for the development of your proposal, increasing the likelihood of its acceptance – along with additional financial support that may come with that.

Proposals will be handled according to their potential for acceptance into the program:

• The strongest proposals will be given provisional approval that may fast-track their review in Round 2. These would likely be approved, assuming they follow our CFP guidelines closely in preparing the final proposal.
• Proposals showing promise would receive feedback from the Program Committee on how to improve or shape the proposal in alignment with our goals for the event.
• If a proposal is not well aligned with the Program Committee’s goals for the event, their speakers would find out before investing time in developing the proposal further.

Round 2 proposals (deadline 25 November)

Your proposal for Round 2 should fully respond to the criteria listed above. If your proposal is accepted, the text from the proposal will be used in the conference program, on our website and elsewhere.

Who should submit in Round 2?

• REQUIRED FOR ALL PROPOSALS, including
  • all members wishing to submit a proposal for the first time in Round 2
  • all those who submitted a proposal in Round 1 and have been invited to submit a finalized proposal

Summary of important dates: opening/deadlines for proposals

Any changes to the dates below will be announced on AMICAL Connect.

28 October	Deadline to submit Round 1 proposals
12 November 18 November	Responses sent to Round 1 proposals
25 November 2 December	Deadline to submit Round 2 proposals
10 December 17 December	Responses sent to Round 2 proposals

Scheduling

Accepted proposals may be scheduled for any day or time during the planned conference dates (29 March - 1 April 2019). Tentative scheduling will be communicated to speakers as early as possible in January.

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.

Propose a session

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