CfP: Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities 2017
The
National Archives and Research Libraries UK are delighted to announce
the call for papers for this year’s Discovering Collections, Discovering
Communities
conference to be held between 27 and 29 November 2017 at the Lowry,
Salford Quays, Manchester.
The
conference will bring together colleagues from across the heritage,
library, and academic sectors, in a vibrant and inclusive setting. We
will discuss
ways of enhancing cross-sector collaboration, collectively seizing new
opportunities, and facing joint challenges.
Call for Papers
In
today’s uncertain political and economic climate the ability to
demonstrate why heritage and culture matter – and to whom - has never
been more important or relevant. The ways in which we gather,
measure and present evidence of cultural value and impact has attracted
increasing attention in recent years, as emphasis has led to a stronger
focus on the experience of individuals and of communities.
Archives,
libraries, museums and heritage organisations across the UK and further
afield have played a leading role in this movement. They have actively
looked to examine, capture and measure the wider social, cultural and
economic impact of their collections, and to engage more effectively
with a wider variety of audiences. Work in this area continues to
evolve, as does the need for new and better ways of
evidencing value and impact through continuing research and the
effective sharing of experiences within and between sectors.
DCDC17
will consider how, by working collaboratively through networks of
inter and cross-disciplinary initiatives, we can continue to improve and
develop
methodologies in order to build a strong evidence base to demonstrate
the cultural value of collections and their contribution to the
creative economy.
The main conference themes will include, but are not limited to, the following:
Proposals
DCDC
welcomes proposals on collaborative projects involving library,
archive, museum, heritage and cultural sectors in partnership with
the academic sector, communities, education and funders.
For 2017, we would particularly be interested on submissions within the following themes:
·
Heritage and the human experience: hidden voices, social cohesion, diversity and public wellbeing.
·
The cultural landscape: heritage buildings, regeneration, and engaging audiences with real and imagined environments.
·
Curative collections: understanding and reflecting voices in conflict, dissent, displacement, repatriation and recovery.
·
New
value in old things: opening up collections through original research,
heritage science, the internet, and digital technology.
·
Collections
and enterprise: the challenges and opportunities of utilising
collections for revenue generation, managing the relationship between
culture and the corporate, and overcoming
the hurdles of copyright.
·
Innovative interpretations: presenting traditional collections to new audiences through art, design, and performance.
·
Measuring value: Holistic value frameworks, benchmarking, cultural and academic partnerships, impact, and the REF.
·
The politics of collections: advocacy for collections, funding, institutional and community support and investment.
Papers
The
conference organisers invite abstracts for the delivery of 20-minute
presentations. 10 minutes will be allowed for questions after each
presentation.
Panels
The
conference organisers also invite the submission of abstracts for panel
proposals. Panels should include three 20-minute papers and include a
named panel chair.
They can be submitted on any pertinent topic within the conference
theme and can include papers relating to an individual project, emerging
initiative, or ‘state of the nation’ overview.
Workshops & roundtables
As part of DCDC17 the organisers also welcome proposals for:
·
Practical workshops on (but not limited to):
o
funding and sustainability
o
interactive projects
o
education & outreach
·
Roundtable sessions by professional networks & societies
All workshops should involve a high level of interactivity and/or training which should be clearly demonstrated in the abstract.
Roundtable
sessions should include no more than five speakers speaking for five
minutes each. We encourage professional networks and societies to
lead on these sessions discussing issues relevant to the conference
theme.
Both workshops and roundtables should be open to all conference delegates and require no prior knowledge or preparation.
Submission format
All submissions should be presented in the following format in a word document as an email attachment:
·
Name, job title and organisation of speaker/s
·
Presentation/panel/seminar title
·
A summary of no more than 100 words (this will be printed in the conference programme)
·
A more detailed abstract of no more than 300 words
·
Any scheduling conflicts for speakers
Deadline
All abstracts should be submitted to both Melanie Cheung (melanie.cheung@rluk.ac.uk) and Laura Tompkins (Laura.Tompkins@
Any submissions received after the deadline will not be considered.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact with the conference organisers.