Call for Papers & Posters – Deadline Extended

Second Annual Conference on Information & Religion: “Preservation and Access: Facilitating Research in Information & Religion”

Keynote: Carisse Mickey Berryhill, Ph.D., Special Collections Librarian,
Abilene Christian University

May 18 & 19, 2012
Kent State University, Kent, OH

The Center for the Study of Information and Religion (CSIR) will host its Second Annual International Conference on Information and Religion in May 2012. This call for papers and posters seeks original contributions in all areas related to information and religion. The conference theme invites participants to share their work in a variety of areas in which scholars are exploring the intersections of religion and information. Topics that might be addressed include but are not limited to the following:

• Preserving and making available religious texts and information objects associated with communities of faith;
• Social uses and appropriations made of these texts and objects;
• The information-seeking behavior of clergy;
• The role of the sermon as an influential communication medium in society; case studies in the sermon preparation task;
• Information in its application to local congregations as communities of practice;
• Faith and many types of intelligence (e.g., emotional intelligence);
• Dissemination of faith messages;
• Intersections of interests in the study of information and religion, where different disciplines might find it worthwhile to collaborate in research.

Prospective participants are encouraged to submit abstracts that report on recent research and scholarship. Contributions to this call for papers and posters should not have been previously published. There are no restrictions on research methodology.
Instructions for submitting refereed paper or poster abstracts:

The abstract should be no longer than 250 words and should include the following:
Title of the paper or poster;
Research question, methods, and results;
Names, affiliations, and contact information for the authors (with one author to be designated as primary contact for the paper).

The abstract should be submitted in PDF or Word format to Dr. Rosemary Du Mont, CSIR Associate, at rdumont@kent.edu.

Jan. 31, 2012: (Extended) Deadline to submit abstracts.
March 15, 2012: Notification of acceptance sent to participants.
April 15, 2012: Deadline to submit final, completed papers in order for them to be considered for publication in ASIR: Advances in the Study of Information and Religion. Papers must be in proper APA style. Additional details regarding submission of full papers will be sent to those whose abstracts are accepted for conference presentation.
Presenters are responsible for their own expenses related to the conference, including but not limited to registration fees, lodging, transportation, and meals.
The Center for the Study of Information and Religion (CSIR) is a research initiative of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University. Located in northeast Ohio, in close proximity to the cities of Akron-Canton and Cleveland, Kent State has an enrollment of more than 41,000 students. SLIS is home to approximately 700 master’s students and is a partner in the doctoral program of the College of Communication and Information (CCI).
For more information, please contact Dr. Don Wicks (dwicks@kent.edu), Interim Director of SLIS and Director of CSIR, Dr. Dan Roland (droland1@kent.edu), CSIR Primary Researcher, or Dr. Rosemary Du Mont (rdumont@kent.edu), CSIR Associate.
Conference information will be posted at http://bit.ly/CSIRconf2012.