We are excited to announce that Journal of Library Outreach and Engagement (JLOE) has published its first issue with IOPN Journals. JLOE will publish original research exploring public and community engagement initiatives and discussing the methodological and epistemological issues that inform, or emerge from, such projects and programs twice a year. As a peer-reviewed, open access interdisciplinary journal, JLOE will be managed by Editors-in-Chief and Librarians at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Sarah Christensen, Matthew Roberts, and Mara Thacker.
“We decided to start JLOE out of a recognition that while outreach and engagement are increasingly central to the work of librarians, archivists, and information professionals, there were no dedicated venues to publish scholarship on the topic. We hope that JLOE will build a scholarly community founded on diverse perspectives and inclusive practices. This journal has been more than 18 months in the making and we can’t wait to see how it grows in the coming years!” – Thacker, South Asian Studies Librarian and Assistant Professor at the International and Area Studies Library at UIUC, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of JLOE
JLOE’s first issue contains a total of 11 position and research articles exploring various outreach and engagement efforts across academic and public libraries and information centers. Some of the topics include promoting STEM communication, supporting students’ success and community well-being, incorporating popular-culture conventions in libraries, tackling controversial topics, and outreach during the global COVID pandemic. Authors interested in submitting to the journal can learn more about JLOE’s submissions guidelines at the journal website.
To help future authors who are considering a submission, JLOE are hosting two panel discussion events with the authors who contributed to the first issue on November 9 and 12, and an LIS Research Fundamentals workshop on December 10. Detailed information on these events can be found on their Facebook page.