Call for Papers – State of the Profession: Performing Arts Librarianship in the 21st Century
Performing Arts Resources – Volume 32
State of the Profession: Performing Arts Librarianship in the 21st Century
This volume of Performing Arts Resources will consider the current status of performing arts librarians and archivists – as well as performing arts libraries in general. It will reflect on issues of professional preparation and training, sustainability of the profession, consolidation of performing arts libraries nationwide, challenges of digitization and technological transformation, and service to our unique communities of users. In particular – it will focus on the following three framing questions:
- Is the performing arts librarian a vanishing species?
- Will the convergence of libraries, archives, and museums – not to mention digitization – advance or inhibit our profession?
- Do these new models offer dynamic synergies for collections – or is our unique identity being lost?
While in some respects threatening – the current landscape offers opportunities for unexpected collaborations, innovation of traditional professional practices – and possibly new paradigms for promoting our collections and mission to the public.
In this reconfigured constellation – do we despair, cling to our eternal verities – or proactively embrace these new challenges to create historically-rich and technological interventions for a truly 21st century crucible of performing arts documentation?
Essays or opinion pieces between 2500-5000 words will be welcomed on a variety of topics:
Emerging Practices
- Moving away from subject specialists to generalists
- New models for instruction and public services
- Integrating primary source documents into the curriculum
- Access to specific needs of practitioners as well as scholars
- Recruiting a new generation into the profession and restructuring library science-archival curricula
Professional Landscape
- Convergence of libraries, archives, and museums
- Consolidation of multi-discipline collections into Arts Libraries
- Expanding institutional collection policies to include alternative and multi-ethnic companies
- Transition in research from performing arts to viewing culture in broader social-political contexts
Technological Transformation
- Digitization access, opportunities, and challenges – and related training issues
- Multimedia preservation and migration of digital content
Ultimately, we’re seeking contributions that are inventive, controversial, and thought-provoking.
Please submit a one-page proposal by December 15, 2014 to:
Kenneth Schlesinger
Chief Librarian, Lehman College