CfP: Libraries, Archives and Natural History (CILIP LIHG conference 2024)

The 2024 CILIP Library & Information History Group conference will take place at the Linnean Society on Friday 4th October 2024, and will be held in association with Archives of Natural History, the journal of the Society for the History of Natural History.

The theme of the conference is ‘Libraries, Archives and Natural History’. Proposals for twenty-minute papers are welcomed on any aspect examining Natural History within the history of libraries and archives. These proposals might address, but are not limited to, any of the following topics:
  • The libraries and/or archives of individual naturalists
  • The library, information and archival history of institutions and/or societies for the promotion of the study of Natural History
  • The challenges of working with libraries and archives that have been disconnected from their associated specimen collections
  • The historic impact of Library spaces on research/collaboration/advancement
  • Historic information management in the study of Natural History
  • The collection of natural history material in non-scientific libraries
  • The role of libraries in disseminating popular natural history
  • The place of the library as a targeted customer for natural history publishing
  • The effect of the birth of digital publishing on library collecting of natural history materials.
  • The effect of the digitisation of natural history material and digital citizen science projects on opening up library collections for historical enquiry
Proposals of up to 300 words should be submitted via online form by midday on Monday 15 July: https://forms.office.com/e/mF3LG3CnA8.

Presented papers will be considered for publication in either Library & Information History or Archives of Natural History, depending on their topic, and brought together in a special joint virtual issue.

Authors who wish to contribute to the theme in Archives of Natural History but are unable to attend the 4 October meeting, may submit abstracts/papers for consideration directly to the editor (editor@shnh.org.uk).