What: Journal of Map & Geography Libraries special issue on "GeoAI and GenAI: Considerations for Map and Geospatial Library Professionals"
Who: We welcome submissions from map and geospatial library professionals, library professionals in other areas with relevant expertise, and disciplinary researchers working on GeoAI and GenAI topics applicable to map and geospatial libraries.
When: Article abstracts are due on May 23, 2025, and authors will be notified by May 30, 2025 of an invitation to submit a full manuscript. Manuscript submissions will be due by September 5, 2025.
How: Send article abstracts to sadvari.1@osu.edu and theward@iu.edu with the subject: AI Special Issue.
Please see below for additional details about this special issue, including a list of suggested topics and submission types. Contact the journal's co-editors with any questions at sadvari.1@osu.edu and theward@iu.edu. We look forward to learning more about your work in this important area!
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Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) is not entirely new to geographic methods – think unsupervised image classification, for example – but it is an emerging area of geographic information science, as novel machine and deep learning techniques are researched and applied for geospatial data integration, analysis, and visualization. At the same time, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is being described as one of the most disruptive technologies in recent memory for higher education and libraries, as institutions and individuals grapple with its potential impacts on teaching and learning – especially for information and data literacy – and across other areas.
The Journal of Map & Geography Libraries invites articles highlighting professional practice, case studies, and research on the role of map and geospatial library professionals in an AI-enabled information landscape, and the opportunities and challenges GeoAI and GenAI pose for our work. We welcome submissions from library professionals with expertise beyond map and geospatial information librarianship and from disciplinary researchers who can offer additional perspectives on how GeoAI and GenAI may impact the work of map and geospatial libraries. We encourage a broad range of contributions including original research articles; literature review articles; reports on collections, projects, and pedagogy; and critical reflection papers supported by literature and/or professional practice.
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
- Core AI knowledge, skills, and abilities for map and geospatial library professionals
- Applications of AI, machine learning, and deep learning techniques for map and geospatial library collections
- Teaching about and/or with GeoAI and GenAI and ways that use of such tools may enhance learning in map and geospatial library contexts
- Intersections of GeoAI and GenAI with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and other relevant literacies (e.g., cartographic, data, spatial, visual, digital)
- Integration of GenAI and GIS workflows to support geospatial data analysis, visualization, and decision-making
- Integration of GenAI and geoportals or other library systems to support discovery and access
- Ethical use of AI in map and geospatial work specifically, and considerations across librarianship and higher education more broadly
- Ways that map and geospatial library professionals might use GenAI in our routine responsibilities and for library projects
Article abstracts are due on May 23, 2025, and authors will be notified by May 30, 2025 of an invitation to submit a full manuscript. Manuscript submissions will be due by September 5, 2025. Typical word counts for peer-reviewed manuscripts in this journal range from 3,000-7,000 words (with flexibility).
Send article abstracts to sadvari.1@osu.edu and theward@iu.edu with the subject: AI Special Issue.
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Joshua Sadvari
Geospatial Information Librarian
The Ohio State University Libraries
sadvari.1@osu.edu------------------------------