Library Research Forum · Concordia University Library

The 2023 Research Forum

Presentation and poster proposals are now being accepted for Concordia University's 21st Library Research Forum. This year's Research Forum will be a two-day hybrid event, with presentations taking place virtually on Zoom on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, and presentations and posters taking place in person at Concordia University’s Loyola Campus on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. The annual Research Forum provides an opportunity for librarians, archivists, graduate students, teaching faculty, and information professionals to describe and promote their completed or in-progress research, practical case studies or projects. The Forum also provides a venue for researchers to seek suggestions for enhancing their research interests, to identify potential new partners for projects, to test the effectiveness of their undertakings, and to promote research in academic libraries. Registration is free.   This year’s plenary speaker will be leading national and international expert on copyright and information policy, Victoria Owen, Information Policy Scholar-Practitioner at the University of Toronto. Victoria will be speaking on accessibility in an international context.

Themes

Proposals are invited on research or case studies in any area of Library and Information Science, including but not limited to:

Proposal Formats

Virtual Presentation – A 20-min formal presentation hosted on Zoom followed by a 10-min question and answer period
In-person Presentation – A 20-min formal presentation taking place onsite at Concordia’s Loyola Campus followed by a 10-min question and answer period
In-person Poster – A visual summary of the project to be presented onsite at Concordia’s Loyola Campus

Languages

Presentations and posters can be in English or French

Submit a Proposal

Fill out this form to submit.
Deadline:January 27, 2023
The Committee will notify presenters who are selected by February 28, 2023

Proposal Rubric

**2023 Proposal Assessment Rubric**
Criteria	Excellent 3	Good 2	Fair 1	Poor 0
Innovation and Originality	The proposal content is groundbreaking and transformational.	The proposal content is original and innovative.	The proposal content is a new take on a familiar topic.	The proposal topic is weak and lacks originality.
Timeliness	Proposal is timely. It is emerging or trending.	Proposal is mostly timely. Of interest in the last 1-2 years.	Proposal is somewhat timely. It continues to be a topic of interest within the last 5 years.	Proposal is not timely, and does not address current topics in librarianship.
Relevance to library and information science field	The proposal topic is core to the work of library professionals.	The proposal topic is valuable to the work of library professionals.	The proposal topic is somewhat related to the work of library professionals.	It is a stretch to make this topic relate to the work of library professionals.
Proposal clarity, organization, and outcomes	The proposal is well written, and organized, and outcomes are clearly stated.	The proposal has only minor issues with clarity, organization, and outcomes.	Some components of the proposal would have benefitted from additional clarification and/or editing.	The proposal is vague and/or poorly edited
Research clarity, organization, and outcomes	The research is conducted following a proper and appropriate methodology. The data analysis is appropriate to the research questions. Results and conclusion appear to be soundly grounded in the greater field.	The research contains minor issues with methodology, appropriateness of data analysis, or extrapolation of results and conclusion.	The research is somewhat flawed in its methodology, appropriateness of data analysis, or extrapolation of results and conclusion.	The research is unclear, inappropriate, or weak in its methodology, appropriateness of data analysis, or extrapolation of results and conclusion.
Appropriateness of venue	The proposal is appropriate for this venue as it takes a research angle or approach to the topic proposed.	The proposal is somewhat appropriate for this venue.	The proposal is most likely inappropriate for this venue.	The proposal is clearly inappropriate for this venue.
Suitability for proposed format	The proposal aims are clear, well- scoped, and suitable for the selected format.	The proposal is somewhat appropriate for the format.	The proposal aims are most likely not achievable in the selected format.	The proposal aims are unclear or inappropriate for the proposed format.
Equity, diversity and inclusion	The proposal strongly addresses the EDI acknowledgements. Acceptance would allow members of underrepresented group(s) to present their work or otherwise broaden the perspectives of conference attendees.	The proposal addresses the EDI acknowledgements Acceptance is likely to broaden the perspectives of conference attendees.	The proposal addresses the EDI acknowledgements, but acceptance is unlikely to broaden the perspectives of conference attendees.	The proposal does not sufficiently address the EDI acknowledgements. Acceptance is unlikely to broaden the perspectives of conference attendees.

Proposals that receive the highest cumulative score, as per the rubric above, will be invited to present over those with lower scores.

Source The rubric above is derived from that of the ACRL 2023 conference
https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/ACRL%202023%20Rubric.pdf

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Acknowledgements

As organizers of the Concordia Library Research Forum, we seek to make this event inclusive to people from underrepresented and marginalized groups. We welcome applications that address equity and social justice as a core concern. We also invite the participation of nonlibrary workers.

We acknowledge that Concordia University is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which we conduct our work. Tiohtià:ke/Montréal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community.

We acknowledge that the diversity of its community is an inherent strength of Concordia University that we need to support and sustain in order to achieve inclusive excellence.

We acknowledge that initiatives to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion are already under way across our campuses, but that we collectively can and must do better.

We acknowledge that Concordia members are not immune to biases that confer privilege to some identities, and the compounding effect of intersecting marginalized identities on creating barriers.

We acknowledge the need to have difficult and uncomfortable conversations in order to address systemic issues and challenge the status quo.

We acknowledge the existence and persistence of historic and continued systemic oppression, dehumanization, social injustice and violence, especially but not limited to sexism, racism and ableism.

We acknowledge that a significant proportion of Concordia members experience discrimination and harassment on our campuses, based on gender, race/ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and religion.

We acknowledge the uniqueness of the needs, challenges and expectations of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and we respect their desire to work separately on their own goals and objectives

Source The above-listed EDI Acknowledgements are from the Report of the Working Group on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Concordia University
https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/concordia/offices/provost/docs/Working-Group-EDI-Report.pdf

About the Research Forum

Since 2002, Concordia's Library Research Forum has provided librarians, archivists, graduate students, teaching faculty, and information professionals with an opportunity to describe and promote their completed or in-progress research, practical case studies or projects. The Forum also provides a venue for researchers to seek suggestions for enhancing their research interests, to identify potential new partners for projects, to test the effectiveness of their undertakings, and to promote research in academic libraries.

Committee

Christine Smith
Chair, Library Research Forum Committee
lib-forum@concordia.ca

2023 Library Research Forum Committee members:
Pat Riva
Aeron MacHattie
Larry Deck