I had the opportunity to attend the Special Libraries Association conference in Philadelphia this June, (thanks to winning the drawing for entrance fees at the last RUSLA meeting!) and I attended a seminar on publishing for academic librarians. As academic librarians, we will be expected to publish articles in academic journals. Following are some tips I picked up so that you can get started right away:
- Identify a topic that interests you by reading extensively. What problems confront you every day? Think about a small part of that problem, and approach the solution incrementally.
- Figure out a methodology- how will you approach the problem? It is important to establish methods acceptable for publication. Get help setting up a study.
- Do a presentation or a poster at a conference. Professional organization committees can be a good place to get ideas for topics.
- Write reviews and columns for publishers. It’s a way to get your name in print.
So, you’ve already taken the first step by joining SCARLA. Think about joining ACRL and/or SLA as a student member (click on the Links tab at left), and get writing by adding to our blog!
~Laura Palumbo, Co-Webmaster