Category: MLA Convention

The Advisory Committee for the MLA International Bibliography is organizing a panel for MLA 2016 in Austin, TX (January 7-10, 2016) on discovery services (Summon, Primo, and EDS) and the MLAIB, and more broadly, on how discovery services are shaping/affecting research in literary studies.  We are seeking librarians along with teaching faculty members who can address the use of discovery services in undergraduate and graduate library instruction and research.

If you are interested in participating, please contact David Oberhelman (d.oberhelman@okstate.edu) by March 23.

The Advisory Committee for the MLA International Bibliography in collaboration with the Libraries and Research Forum is organizing a panel for MLA 2016 in Austin, TX (January 7-10, 2016) on the evolving scholarly record. New scholarly methods create new kinds of scholarship, raising questions about the nature of the scholarly record itself as well as the structures, institutions, and practices needed to maintain the record for its publics.

For more information on this topic, see the following article: http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2014/oclcresearch-evolving-scholarly-record-2014-overview.html

This post contains the slides from Harriett Green’s presentation at the Modern Language Association convention held in Vancouver in January 2015 as part of the panel “What Does It Mean to Publish? New Forms of Scholarly Communication,” arranged by the MLA International Bibliography Advisory Committee.

176. What Does It Mean to Publish? New Forms of Scholarly Communication
Thursday, 8 January, 7:00–8:15 p.m., 17, VCC East
Program arranged by the Advisory Committee on the MLA International Bibliography

Presiding: Dawn Childress, Penn State Univ. Libraries

1. “Virtual Verse in the Library: Capturing Online-Only Poetry for Scholarship and Preservation,” Harriett Green, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana

2. “Tales from a Silver Medalist: Publishing an Interactive, Collaborative Article in JITP (Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy),” Amanda Licastro, Graduate Center, City Univ. of New York

3. “Capturing New Modes of Scholarship in the MLA International Bibliography,” Barbara Chen, MLA

MLA International Bibliography
Friday, 9 January, 9:50–10:10 a.m., Exhibit Hall Theater, VCC West
Presented by the MLA International Bibliography, MLA PubCentral, Prefunction, level 1, VCC West 

Barbara Chen, the editor of the MLA International Bibliography, demonstrates how the MLA Bibliography is a powerful resource for conducting literary, linguistic, film, and folklore research.

242. The Future of the Print Record
Friday, 9 January, 10:15–11:30 a.m., 1, VCC East
Program arranged by the MLA Office of Scholarly Communication

Presiding: Kathleen Fitzpatrick, MLA
Speakers: James Grossman, American Historical Assn.; Chuck Henry, Council on Library and Information Resources; Geneva Henry, George Washington Univ.; Deanna Marcum, Ithaka S+R; Andrew M. Stauffer, Univ. of Virginia
For background materials, visit printrecord.mla.hcommons.org after 1 Dec.

New technologies, changing approaches to research, and growing strains on library space and budgets are dramatically affecting prospects for future access to the print record of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This session focuses on the development of a framework for collaborative, productive decision making among faculty members and librarians in shaping the future of library collections.

259. Bibliography for the Twenty-First Century
Friday, 9 January, 12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 219, VCC West
Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Libraries and Research in Languages and Literatures and the Discussion Group on Bibliography and Textual Studies

Presiding: Dawn Childress, Penn State Univ. Libraries; Matt Cohen, Univ. of Texas, Austin

1. “An English Short Title Catalogue for the Twenty-First Century,” Benjamin F. Pauley, Eastern Connecticut State Univ.; Carl Stahmer, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara

2. “Bibliographic Migration and Book Ecology: The SFU Lake District Rare Book Collection in the Twenty-First Century,” Margaret Linley, Simon Fraser Univ.

3. “The Digital Antiquarian: Remediating Archival Impulses,” Thomas Augst, New York Univ.; Molly Hardy, American Antiquarian Soc.

327. The Library as Method
Friday, 9 January, 1:45–3:00 p.m., 121, VCC West
Program arranged by the Division on Methods of Literary Research

Presiding: Andrew M. Stauffer, Univ. of Virginia

1. “Researching ‘Search’: The Historical Impact of Information Science,” David Haeselin, Carnegie Mellon Univ.

2. “Research and the Robot: What Do Disappearing Library Stacks Mean for Literary Scholarship?” Amanda Avery, Marywood Univ.

3. “The Art of Accident,” Jennifer Travis, Saint John’s Univ., NY

398. The MLA and Its Data: Remix, Reuse, and Research
Friday, 9 January, 5:15–6:30 p.m., 121, VCC West
Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Information Technology

Presiding: Marguerite Helen Helmers, Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

Speakers: Brian Croxall, Emory Univ.; Jonathan Goodwin, Univ. of Louisiana, Lafayette; David Laurence, MLA; Ernesto Priego, City Univ. London; Lisa Marie Rhody, George Mason Univ.; Christopher Zarate, MLA

For abstracts, visit infotech.mla.hcommons.org/ after 15 Dec.

As an organization, the MLA produces many kinds of data: the bibliography, the Job Information List, and its publications. We scholars produce data “about” the MLA as well, through social media connected to the annual convention. This panel presents work on what we can learn about the professions of language and literature when we analyze the data collectively produced by the MLA and its members.

483. MLA International Bibliography: Relevance, Retrieval, Research
Saturday, 10 January, 10:15–11:30 a.m., 120, VCC West
Program arranged by the Advisory Committee on the MLA International Bibliography

Presiding: Barbara Chen, MLA
“Relevance, Retrieval, Research,” Gregory Grazevich, MLA
For PowerPoint presentation, write to bchen@mla.org after 30 Dec.

Enhancing Research, Supporting the Researcher: ProQuest Literature Resources and ProQuest Flow
Friday, 9 January, 11:35–11:55 a.m., Exhibit Hall Theater, VCC West
Presented by ProQuest, booth 424 

ProQuest is committed to enhancing the research process by providing tools and resources that facilitate and empower the researcher to make new connections and discoveries. Nicky Agate and John Pegum present some of ProQuest’s key resources for literary research, including the MLA International Bibliography and Literature Online, and demonstrate ProQuest Flow, a free cloud-based reference and full-text document manager.

Session# 176
Thursday, January 8
7:00–8:15 p.m., East 17, VCC East

Sponsored by the MLA Advisory Committee on the MLA International Bibliography

Combining the immediacy of a blog post with the rigor of a refereed journal, “middle state” publishing is gaining ground in the humanities. How does middle-state publishing — also known as “grey literature” — challenge our notions of what makes something “published”? Scholars wrestle with the import of this question for hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions, while librarians, archivists, and the MLA International Bibliography struggle to document and preserve emerging forms of scholarly communication. The panelists in this session will engage with some critical questions: What does it means to publish? How might institutional repositories constitute a form of publication? How do new tools and methodologies suggest new categories for indexing and analysis? How do new categories of scholarly publication challenge and change how we keep the scholarly record? How do we archive emerging material?

Virtual Verse in the Library: Capturing Online-Only Poetry for Scholarship and Preservation
Harriett Green, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana

The publication of original literary works on the Web in recent decades has marked a new era of literary expression, as well as a democratization of literary culture. But discovery and documentation of online-only or “born-digital” literary works are extremely limited: Many online-only works can only be accessed through known item searching. Furthermore, many print journals publish selected works only on their websites, but these works frequently are not indexed in the same manner as works published in print. In light of these issues, the authors conducted an IMLS-funded investigation during 2013 on access, use, and the publishing of online-only poetry. This paper draws upon the surveys and interviews conducted with nearly 200 creative writing faculty members, librarians, and small press literary publishers to offer an unprecedented examination of online literary publishing practices and discoverability of online-only poetry. The paper analyzes the subjects’ responses on accessing online-only poetry, reading and publishing practices, and the role of online publications in scholarly communications among literary writers. The paper synthesizes these responses to explore the impact of online journals on literary publishing, and examine the role of stakeholders in supporting discoverability and access to online-only poetry. The paper also considers current and potential tools to facilitate access to online-only literary works, such as an index or mobile applications. Ultimately, this paper reveals how the digital evolution of literary publishing requires literary artists, scholars, and information professionals alike to engage collaboratively in the essential work of making digital literature accessible to all.

“Tales from a Silver Medalist: Publishing an Interactive, Collaborative Article in JITP (Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy)”
Amanda Licastro, Graduate Center, City Univ. of New York

The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy is working to remix the scholarly journal in a myriad of ways, concentrating on enacting a publication model in which both the form and process adapt to meet new modes of composition. Focusing on a transparent and collaborative peer-review process, this presentation will chronicle the production of the award winning article “Digital Literary Pedagogy” as an example of how editors of online academic journals can work with contributors to expand the definition of publication in innovative ways. This article is the result of a collaboration between two of the journal editors and an assistant professor who integrated the journal into a course on nineteenth century reading technologies. The JITP editors interacted with both the students and the professor, serving as mentors for the student projects, thus mimicking the guidance JITP offers authors through the process of submitting to the journal. The final product includes an interactive timeline, video captures of the in-class meetings, short-form articles from both the professor and editors, as well as a “meta” section showing the collaborative Google Doc drafts. This experimental approach challenges the traditional model of a scholarly article, especially in terms of authorship and peer review. While this article was named first runner up in the short-form category of the DH Awards, this presentation will also explore the difficulties in constructing and presenting truly multimodal scholarship.

“Capturing New Modes of Scholarship in the MLA International Bibliography”
Barbara Chen, MLA

The publishing field had been relatively static for the first 90 years of the MLA International Bibliography’s existence but this is no longer the case. Scholars’ engagement with new types of e-publishing has caused changes in the Bibliography’s inclusion policies as well as bibliographical descriptions. Barbara Chen, MLA Bibliography editor, will explain current practices for new types of e-content and elaborate on expectations for the future.