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Original scholarship is an often over-looked part of many annual conferences. It tends to get lost iin the chaotic shuffle between presentations, continuing education, time in the exhibit halls, and, of course, the need for social interaction with colleagues. It often seems that the heroes who work so hard on contributed papers end up having ther praises unsung. Luckily, the Special Libraries Association is belting out a tune of praise for its scholars from this year’s annual conference.

From the press release:

How do journalists verify the information they get through social media, and what role can information professionals play in this process? Can embedding a library hackfest into a first-year computer science course be an effective method of providing information literacy instruction and advocating for open access? What difference do professional associations supporting the library and information profession make to the members of the profession, to the employers of those members, and to the profession itself?

These and other interesting questions were addressed by SLA members who presented “contributed papers” at the SLA 2014 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO. A total of 12 such papers were presented, four on each day of the conference. The contributed papers emerged from a process that began in October 2013, when a call for abstracts was posted on the SLA blog and on discussion lists. Roughly two dozen abstracts were submitted; from among these, 12 were selected to be developed into full papers.

Now that the conference is over, you can read this year’s SLA Contributed Papers online for free.  Kudos to all who worked hard on these submissions and especially to Sarah Shuja of York University in Toronto, whose entry, Organizing and Embedding a Library Hackfest into a First-Year Course, was named best contributed paper at the conference.

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Photo of John DiGilio John DiGilio

As an information professional and visionary, John DiGilio has over 20 years of large law firm library and legal information vendor experience. He has proudly been affiliated with some of the largest law firms and information vendors in the industry. An award winning…

As an information professional and visionary, John DiGilio has over 20 years of large law firm library and legal information vendor experience. He has proudly been affiliated with some of the largest law firms and information vendors in the industry. An award winning writer and popular speaker, John believes in the value of information and the power it can bring when harnessed wisely and efficiently.

John is the Firmwide Director of Library Services for Sidley Austin LLP. He has written for numerous regional and national publications as well as taught college and graduate courses in such topics as business ethics, e-commerce, fair employment practices, research methodology and business law.