Friday, March 6, 2026
Great Rooms, Pryzbyla Student Center
The Catholic University of America
About the Symposium
Bridging the Spectrum: A Symposium on Scholarship and Practice in Library and Information Science offers a knowledge-sharing forum and meeting place for practitioners, students, and faculty in Library and Information Sciences and Services. Presentations are selected to showcase innovative practices, projects, and research activities in a variety of library, archives, or information services activities. Because students, faculty, and practitioners all share their work, the Symposium encompasses many different aspects and points of view on library and information professional work. The program's goal is to foster unexpected connections across the spectrum of the information professions.
Proposal Submission
Proceedings (including abstracts and select full-text or full-image presentations and posters) from Bridging the Spectrum symposia are published in the open-access institutional repository powered by JSTOR. This reflects the symposium’s ongoing commitment to advancing scholarship, practice, and conversation in the information professions.
We are now accepting abstract submissions for 2026 symposium presentations (250-300 words). The Symposium will include three types of presentations: individual papers, posters, and panels.
- Individual papers are 15-minute presentations of an innovative practice, project, or research activity.
- Posters are visual representations of a practice, a project, or research findings.
- Panels are one-hour group discussions by several speakers centered on a specific topic, followed by Q&A or interactive engagements.
- Participants may propose their own format, including workshops, un-conference sessions, and so on.
Proposals can be submitted on any topic relevant to library and information science and archival practice or research. Below are some examples (but not an exhaustive list!):
- Community engagement and outreach, including marketing and advocacy for library and information services.
- Services for children and/or young adults in libraries.
- LIS and international migration.
- Reading practices across the lifespan.
- Information services against misinformation and propaganda.
- New developments in information organization (linked data, semantic web, etc.).
- Preservation and management of born-digital and digitized resources.
- Management and analysis of data and information.
- Library networks and international collaboration.
- Technology trends and their impact on information services.
Please submit your proposals at the Symposium submission portal.
Before you access the submission portal, please be prepared to enter the following information:
- Your name and affiliation
- Your email
- Your abstract of the required length (250-300 words)
- Technical requirements that will facilitate your presentation
- Accessibility requests if you have any
Important Dates
- Submission of the Abstract: December 15, 2025
- Notification of acceptance: January 15, 2026
- Submission of presentation slides and posters for archiving on JSTOR (optional): February 27, 2026
Sponsorship and Partnership
Accommodations
Please include any accommodation requests when you register, or contact the Symposium committee at CUA-slis-symposium@CUA.edu or 202-319-5085. In all situations, a good faith effort (up until the time of the event) will be made to provide accommodations.
Symposium Committee
Maria Mazzenga (chair), Keren Dali, Shane MacDonald, Heather Wiggins
Committee shared email address: cua-slis-symposium@cua.edu