Call for Book Proposals: Online Public Services
COVID-19 forced many health sciences libraries to move their public services online. How can online service delivery be done most effectively?
The MLA Books Panel is seeking author(s) or editor(s) for a monograph that provides guidance to health sciences librarians offering services online. Topics for the monograph could include (but are not limited to):
· Best practices for delivering (and choosing between) synchronous and asynchronous online teaching
· A discussion of the usability and accessibility of freely available teaching technologies
· Methods to make online teaching engaging and effective
· Outreach to users when the librarian is working from home rather than the library
· Collection development when print resources are no longer accessible, and/or innovative ways to make print resources available; this may include copyright considhttps://www.mlanet.org/page/publications/bookproposals.htmlerations
· Scheduling/timing of service; does remote delivery mean services can/should be offered at different times?
· Provision of remote reference services
· Provision of rounding or other clinical librarian services through remote means
· Use of virtual anatomy tools or clinical skills videos that may substitute for in-person experiences
· A discussion of how switching to online delivery of services will affect service delivery in future; what should continue in the online format even when physical distancing is no longer necessary?
You may write the book by yourself, or edit the book and seek contributions from other health sciences librarians or information professionals. We describe the submission process at Publish a Book with MLA. To begin, submit your completed step 1 form to Martha Lara (lara@mail.mlahq.org) at MLA by November 17th. If you have questions about serving as the editor or the author of the entire volume, please contact e.watson@usask.ca. We cannot consider contributions of individual chapters at this time.