Calls for Proposals for DLF Forum and Learn@DLF

CLIR’s Digital Library Federation (DLF) invites proposals for the 2022 DLF Forum (October 10-12) and our pre-conference workshop day, Learn@DLF (October 9), which will be held in-person at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.

Separate calls have been issued for Digital Preservation 2022, the annual conference of the NDSA (October 12-13), and CLIR’s Digitizing Hidden Collections Symposium (October 12-13), both to be held in conjunction with the Forum this year.

Guiding Focus

We are delighted to be returning to a fully in-person event this year after two years online, and our guiding focus this year is one of gratitude. Though not meant to function as a content theme for our event, gratitude will be at the center of all decisions we make about the Forum this year. We are grateful for our community, our team, and the opportunity to reconnect in person in Baltimore this fall.

What We’re About

The Digital Library Federation’s mission is advancing research, learning, social justice, and the public good through the creative design and wise application of digital library technologies. The DLF Forum, DLF’s signature event, is explicitly designed to enact and support the DLF community’s values. We strive to create a safe, accessible, welcoming, and inclusive event that reflects our Code of Conduct.

The past two years have been fraught with collective trauma as a result of the ongoing pandemic, which has also brought existing structural inequalities to new light. At CLIR, we work diligently across all programs to amplify unheard voices, as diversity, social justice, and broad access to cultural heritage are integral to our mission. As an organization committed to pursuing equity and justice through systemic change, we’re focused on creating an inclusive community that centers diverse and long underrepresented voices.

In an effort to welcome further representation and to underline our commitment to CLIR’s programmatic partnerships, the planning committee will again prioritize submissions from folks who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), folks working at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other libraries, archives, museums, and organizations that center BIPOC. Self-identification options will be provided in the proposal submission form.

Audience

The DLF Forum is a meeting place, a marketplace, and a congress for digital library practitioners across Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAMs) from DLF member organizations and the broader community. Attendees are a multi-disciplinary cross-sector audience of professionals in the digital library, museum, archives, and cultural heritage fields, from project managers, technologists, and developers to administrators and service providers. The Forum has welcomed professionals from academic, art and cultural heritage, and non-profit organizations, government agencies, and more. They come from all over the country and tend to be early- to mid-career professionals. Forum attendees are inquisitive, engaged, and action-oriented with a focus on learning new skills and solving problems together.

Who Should Submit

We encourage proposals from:

• • DLF members and non-members;
  • Regulars and newcomers;
  • Digital library practitioners and those in adjacent fields such as the institutional research and educational technology;
  • Students, early-career professionals, and senior staff alike

We especially welcome proposals from folks who can bring diverse professional and life experiences to the conference, including those from minority racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds, immigrants, veterans, those with disabilities, and people of all sexual orientations or gender identities.

About Presenting

We strongly encourage prospective presenters to closely review our Resources for Forum Presenters and Moderators page to understand what makes a successful DLF Forum presentation. The strongest proposals will clearly demonstrate how presenters intend to design their proposed sessions to be interactive, inclusive, and action-oriented and will also outline clear learning objectives. Examples of successful presentations and workshops from past DLF Forums are linked on the Resources page as well.

Additional information to foster well-balanced sessions and represent as many voices as possible:

• • While there is no limit to the number of authors listed on a proposal, this year each submission type lists a maximum number of presenters.
  • Further, individuals may present only once at the 2022 DLF Forum.
    • This policy applies whether one is the submitting presenter or a secondary speaker.
    • There is no limit to the number of non-presenting collaborators or co-authors.
    • The speaking limit restriction does not apply to co-organizing Working Group meetings, Lightning Talks, or Learn@DLF sessions.
  • Proposals to more than one event are permitted, though please submit different proposals for each.
  • Looking for co-presenters on a particular topic? Try using our 2022 CLIR Events Unofficial Program Sessions and Connections for connecting with other prospective presenters. Note that the Program Committee and CLIR+DLF Staff do not monitor the document and it is not part of the official submission process.

 

Submissions and Evaluation

Based on community feedback and the work of our Program Committee, we welcome submissions geared toward a practitioner audience that:

• • Clearly engage with DLF’s mission
  • Activate and inspire participants to think, make, and do
  • Engage people from different backgrounds, experience levels, and disciplines
  • Include clear takeaways that participants can implement in their own work

As in previous years, all submissions will be peer reviewed. Reviewers will be asked to describe the contribution of the submission to the overall conference program, recommend on a scale of 0-10 whether to reject or accept the proposal, and rate their familiarity on a scale of 0-10 (0 being completely new, 10 being very familiar). They may also recommend the proposal for a shorter format.

Broader DLF community input will also be solicited through an open community voting process, which will inform the Program Committee’s final decisions.

Submission Formats

Sessions are invited in the following lengths and formats:

At Learn@DLF, October 9:

• • 3-hour Workshops: In-depth, hands-on training sessions on specific tools, techniques, workflows, or concepts. No more than five facilitators are allowed per submission. As is natural to a workshop format, Q&A and discussion will be incorporated throughout. All workshop organizers are asked to provide details on technology needed, participant proficiency level, and learning outcomes for participants. Workshops must be interactive and inclusive, and the strongest proposals will demonstrate this clearly. Please be aware that Learn@DLF requires a separate registration fee from the DLF Forum, with meals and breaks included. Interested in presenting something longer? Consider submitting a ‘part I’ (morning session) and ‘part II’ (afternoon session).

At the DLF Forum, October 10-12:

• • 45-minute Panels: A panel discussion of three to four presenters on a unified topic, with an emphasis on the discussion. A maximum of four presenters is allowed per submission. Proposals with representative and inclusive speaker involvement will be favored by the committee, and all-male-identifying panels will not be accepted. The main goals of the panel format at the DLF Forum are to bring together diverse perspectives on a topic and to encourage a community discussion of panelists’ approaches or findings. Presenters should speak for no longer than 30 minutes, leaving a minimum of 15 minutes for discussion at the end of the session.
  • 45-minute Workshops: Hands-on training sessions on a specific tool, technique, workflow, or concept. No more than five facilitators are allowed per submission. All workshop organizers are asked to provide details on technology needs and learning outcomes for participants. Workshops must be interactive, and the strongest proposals will demonstrate this clearly.
  • 45-minute Working Sessions: Use the Forum to organize and get stuff done! Working on a project on which you’d like feedback? Looking for collaborators on a challenge you seek to overcome? These working sessions are for community organizers, creative problem solvers, and existing or prospective DLF interest and working groups and are open to everyone to attend or submit. These sessions may happen during mealtimes as in previous years (though eating during the meetings will be discouraged) or during the regular conference program as space allows. No more than five leaders are allowed per submission.
  • 15-minute Presentations: A presentation by a maximum of two presenters on a single topic or project. Presentations will be grouped by the program committee based on overarching themes or ideas. Presenters should speak for no longer than 10 minutes in order to leave time for discussion.
  • 5-minute Lightning Talks: High-energy talks held in succession for all conference attendees. No more than two presenters are allowed per submission. There is no formal Q&A for lightning talks, but we encourage conversation at the reception that follows.

 

Proposal Requirements

• • Proposal title
  • Submission format and event
  • First and last names, organizational affiliations, and email addresses for all presenters and authors
  • Brief abstract – limited to 50 words
    Full proposal – limited to 250 words for all formats except for panels, which are limited to 500 words
  • Five keywords for your proposal
  • Learning objectives (workshops only) – limited to 50 words; brief, clear statements about what attendees will be able to do as a result of taking your proposed workshop
  • All submissions are under a CC-BY 4.0 license, which allows for sharing and adaptation of content but which requires appropriate credit and an indication of any changes made by others. Presenters must agree to share their work under this license in the submission form.