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About Conversants

We are looking for current MLS students and recent graduates to submit essays and articles on how LIS curriculum can be improved.

Conversants is a limited-run, open-access journal about participatory networks. Part of a joint project between the Information Institute of Syracuse and ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), the journal is a forum for the exchange of ideas relating to conversation-based theories as well as their applications in knowledge environments. Articles and essays are solicited not only to increase our understanding of participatory approaches to virtual and physical settings, but also to challenge the scholarly and practice communities. The emphasis of the journal is on durable concepts that transcend any particular technology or suite of functions.

While treatments related to all types of settings are welcome, a special emphasis is placed on the library domain and the role librarians play as facilitators of conversations.

Submissions might include:

Empirical articles analyzing user contributions to web resources
Thought pieces concerning the library as conversation
Podcasts of presentations concerning Library 2.0
Discussions of curricular initiatives to incorporate new web technologies into information education.

All submissions will be reviewed by the editors of the journal and then, in keeping with the central tenets of participatory networks, made available for ongoing public review. Authors are encouraged to follow these conversations, and can incorporate these comments into revised drafts.

Unlike most journals, accepted pieces are published as they are accepted: encouraging timely discussions of current trends and events. Selected pieces will be edited into a volume exploring participatory librarianship.

If you are interested in contributing to the journal, or acting as an editor, please contact David Lankes rdlankes@iis.syr.edu