NMRT (New Members Round Table)

Hello,

My name is Allison Smith and I am a new academic librarian, focused on reference and instruction. I am located in Southern Massachusetts and have joined a few regional and state professional organizations. I want to do a conference presentation or poster in the next 18 months or even partner with another librarian (or group) to get some CV experience. How do you suggest I go about finding opportunities or submitting proposals to conferences and meetings? I would love to hear from other new librarians as well to see what your experiences have been. For context, I am a member of ALA, ACRL, NELA and MLA (Massachusetts Library Association).

Thanks,

Allison

Hi Allison! 

I'm also a (relatively) new academic librarian. I see a lot of calls for proposals (CFP) via listservs and in the digests from posts like yours, so I recommend finding some relevant listservs to join, like your regional library association) and to subscribe to email digests for the ALA and ACRL. I'm a technical services librarian, so I don't have a lot of interaction with disciplinary faculty, but reaching out to faculty might be a good way to collaborate, too! Also, just start searching for library conferences to see what comes up, then you can limit based on location, theme, etc. 

God luck! 

--Alyshia

Alyshia just gave you a pretty good bit of advice and it sounds like you're already on your way! Some questions I would ask you to get a sense of what kind of work or collaboration would be particularly fruitful for you would be 

• What are your present research interests/goals?
• What projects have you undertaken/been a part of at your institution?
• What projects/initiatives do you have planned or are have you fantasized about implementing? These could become fruitful areas of research and implementing them could lead to an interesting case study.
• What specific insights do you believe you can bring to the profession? While a "unique" perspective is valuable, it is not the end all be all. If you can gather a cohort around you with similar insights, that would be a potential opportunity for collaboration.

Hey Alison! 

You're already off to a great start with making connections by subscribing to and participating in these ALA Connect channels. This is where I typically find a lot of CFPs for conferences, journals, and upcoming books. I do have a few recommendations based on the interests you've described, as well as my own experiences in the profession so far. 

• My favorite teaching-oriented conference for librarians is The Innovative Library Classroom (TILC), held annually in Williamsburg, VA. In terms of registration, they are an extremely affordable conference, and I've always learned a lot from attending. The vibes are also immaculate, so much so that I started volunteering with the conference committee after my first year attending! 
• A few interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary teaching-oriented conferences that are good are Virginia Tech's Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy (CHEP) and Georgia Sothern's SOTL Commons. Georgia Southern University also hosts the Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy (GICOIL); I go to GICOIL every year, partly out of convenience since I'm employed at GS, but also because I typically learn a lot at that conference as well. GICOIL is mostly librarians and composition/rhetoric faculty, but it is also interdisciplinary due to the nature of IL in general.
• There is also the NMRT peer-reviewed journal, Endnotes, if you're interested in publishing and haven't done it before! 
• Here's a few other blogs and organizations that might be of interest to you:
  • Library Freedom Project
  • A Library Writer's Blog
  • The Librarian Parlor
  • The Library Writing Cooperative

If there are any others I missed -- I feel like there's an group of library professionals and AI skeptics that I'm missing but for the life of me I can't place it...-- then I'm sure more folks will supplement my list in future responses. We don't gatekeep here anymore. 😉

Happy CV-building! 

Hi Allison! I am also an early career academic librarian- I'm located in Fall River, MA, so right down the highway from you! 

I recommend you ask other librarians at your university or nearby schools. In my experience, it can be intimidating to ask for help, but everyone I've worked with in this field is beyond happy to help. You never know what connections/experiences people have that could be perfect for you! 

My other recommendation is reaching out to whoever on your campus is responsible for employee professional development. They may have existing resources to help you get started with a project, or know other people also conducting research. 

Best of luck!