2025 Annual Conference Call for Papers, Lightning Talks, and Posters Posted 6-1-25

The Annual Conference of the Midwest Chapter/MLA Research Committee invites proposals for contributed papers, posters, and lightning sessions for the 2025 Midwest Annual Meeting themed “Imagination & Co-Creation.” At a time when long-standing norms and organizations are crumbling, how are we anchoring ourselves as health sciences information professionals with a strong sense of our core values and skills? How can we meet this moment not with fear, but by imagining the world we want, and confidently working together to build something new?

The presentation of contributed content will be held virtually on October 16 and 17, 2025. Paper presenters will have 15-20 minutes and lightning talks presenters will have 5-10 minutes. Poster presenters will be asked to provide up to a 10-minute video or audio recording ahead of time about your poster. The posters and recordings will be made available to conference attendees by October 8th so that they can be previewed ahead of time. More details to follow in August after presenters have been notified.

We welcome presentations that were made at the 2025 MLA meeting in Pittsburgh. Please consider presenting it again at the Midwest 2025 conference!

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, July 16th (note: extended to July 30th).

Notifications of acceptance or rejection will be made by Wednesday, August 20th.

Members of the Research Awards Subcommittee for the Midwest MLA Annual Conference Planning Committee:

Emily Johnson-Barlow, Bette Sydelko, Mary Taylor

Please use this Qualtrics Form to submit your proposal.

Here is the information you will need to submit:

1.     For what kind of presentation are you submitting this proposal?

2.     Primary author (who will serve as point of contact)

3.     Primary author’s preferred email 

4.     Primary author’s institution

5.     List any additional authors and their institutions

6.     Are you a member of the Midwest Chapter?

7.     If your submission is accepted, would you or your co-author be a first-time presenter at a Midwest or other chapter of MLA conference?  If yes, please list the first-time presenter at Midwest or other chapter of MLA conference.

8.     Title of your presentation

9.     Abstract (250 word maximum, structured abstract preferred.) Please blind your abstract and de-identify information about your institution and individuals’ names. To find more information about structured abstracts visit http://www.malnet.org/page/structured-abstract

10.  If you are submitting a research project, would you like to be considered for the Midwest Chapter of MLA’s Research Award? To find information about the awards visit https://mcmla45.wildapricot.org/awards

11.  Would you like to be considered for the Midwest Chapter of MLA's Fan Favorite presentations? To find information about the awards visit https://mcmla45.wildapricot.org/awards#research

12.  If your proposal is accepted for inclusion in the conference, does the Midwest Chapter/MLA have your permission to include your submission in the proceedings? (Your response will not impact the evaluation of your submission.)

13.  If your proposal is accepted for inclusion in the conference, does the Midwest Chapter of MLA have your permission to record the presentation and make available on an unlisted YouTube channel available only to conference attendees? (Your response will not impact the evaluation of your submission.)