2024 CONFERENCE Proposals

Proposal Guidelines

The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) conference planning committee invites you to submit proposals for the 50th Annual Conference, Ohio Academic Libraries: Past, Present, & Future.

Conference Dates & Venues

In-Person Conference Location (Friday, Nov 8, 2024): OCLC Convention Center, Dublin, OH

Submission Deadline: Monday May 13, 2024

We encourage thoughtful, timely proposals from all areas of library work.

Adherence to the conference theme is encouraged but not required. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Diversity audits of collections
• Protecting, Changing, or Adapting in course content in wake of SB83
• AI and other tools for use in our work
• Updates on past projects and how they are being used today
• Changing landscape of information literacy
• Work/life balance
• Library as experts in new technologies (ex: VR or AI)
• Exciting new things to try out in Alma
• Workflows or integrations with campus systems like Workday or EAB Navigate
• Successful library events for different audiences
• Communicating the value the library holds to stakeholders
• Collection assessment
• Ways to maximize a resource trial
• Instruction effects on student outcomes
• Accessibility in libraries: spaces, interfaces, licenses, etc
• New roles and duties for student workers
• How Library work and jobs have been changing
• Misinformation
• Generative AI in instruction

A full rubric of grading criteria is available here.

Proposal Guidelines

Choose which option best fits your topic(s). Multiple submissions are allowed, but each must represent a different topic.

SUBMISSION FORM

RUBRIC

• Proposals should appeal and be relevant to conferences themes or academic library work in any area, department, or specialty.
• Proposals should provide clear indication of actionable takeaways or practical applications.
• Proposals should be concise, descriptive, and clearly written.
• Proposals are blind, peer-reviewed.
• Exclude the name of your institution, department, and any personal names in the title or abstract. If you include this identifying information, your proposal may not receive further consideration.
• Multiple submissions of presentation, poster, and lightning talk proposals are allowed
  • No more than two (e.g. two presentations, two posters, one presentation and one poster, or one presentation/poster and lightning talk) will be included in the final program.

• Presentation (or other 50-minute session)
• Poster Session (1 hour session where you engage with individuals or small groups for a few minutes at a time, uses visual format to give an overview of a topic)
• Lightning talk (7 minute live session with a shared Q&A)

• Title: 50 word limit
• Abstract: 200 word limit
  • Exclude the name of your institution, department and any personal names. If you include this identifying information, your proposal may not receive further consideration.
• How the presentation/poster will engage with audience
• Keywords that describe the content
• Presenter bio(s)
• Learning Outcomes for Presentations, Panel Sessions & Breakout Sessions
  • A well-written learning outcome will identify what participants will be able to do as a result of attending your program. How will your target audience’s skills, attitudes, knowledge, behavior, status, or life condition change or improve by participating in your program? Think about the intended impact of the program and how it fills a need or solves a problem.
  • Tip: Consider using a verb or action phrase + “in order to” + an impact statement to design your outcomes. The first phrase describes the skill or task you want the learner to perform, and the second phrase describes its impact and why it is important. (Guidelines adopted from ALA Annual Submission Guide & Primer for Learning Outcomes)
  • At least one outcome is required; no more than three can be submitted.

All conference presenters (session, talk, discussion, or a poster) are responsible for their own registration costs. Please note also that grants are available for Students and Library Support Staff to attend or aid in presenting at the conference.

Learn more about submitting a proposal and planning a presentation

To learn more about submitting a proposal and planning a presentation, see: ALAO Conference Proposal Prep: Roadmap to Success. 4/10/2024

Community Agreements

The conference planners seek to create a space for respectful dialogue and debate about critical issues. Upon registration, attendees will be asked to review and accept a list of community agreements. Conference planners will actively strive to create spaces in which multiple perspectives can be heard and no one voice dominates.

If you have questions, please contact Cara Calabrese and Rob Withers at program@alaoweb.org