Dear Colleague, VALA2014: Streaming with Possibilities As you may be aware, papers (except for keynote speakers and invited papers) published in VALA conference proceedings are peer-reviewed in accordance with HERDC guidelines. The VALA2014 Programme Committee is looking for people to take on the role of independent reviewer for the VALA2014 conference papers that are due to be submitted on 16 September 2013. Reviewers would be asked to read and comment on about two or three papers (the more reviewers we have, the fewer papers each receives), and are provided with guidelines/comment forms to assist them with rating the papers. Papers and guidelines will be distributed by email, and reviewers will be asked to complete the task within *two* weeks of receiving the papers. If a paper has to be revised (most do), then it will have to be reviewed again after revision, and this will also need to be done in two weeks. Papers are due mid-September, and it is anticipated that most papers will be distributed to reviewers by early to mid-October. Each paper is reviewed by at least two reviewers, and then the reviews are combined anonymously and returned to the authors. Following this, authors are given up to three weeks for revisions, and on receipt revised papers are re-reviewed. This would take the process to late November (all being well). It is, of course, possible that there may be delays with particular papers (illness, etc.), which would result in the process starting and finishing later. Any reviewers whose paper(s) will be delayed will be advised in advance if possible. Please remember that the aim is to be able to distribute abstracts according to areas of skill, but also, as much as possible, to give each reviewer about the same workload. Each paper will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. If you are interested in being considered for the review panel, we would like you to do the following, please. 1. Download the reviewing skills spreadsheet from www.vala.org.au/reviewing2014 and complete it, to help with gathering information about your skills. 2. Complete the spreadsheet, as described below. This should take around three minutes to complete and email back to me at [log in to unmask] ASAP, please, but no later than Thursday 1 August 2013. 3. In your covering email, please supply us with 50-100 words about yourself, *full* contact information (including secondary email addresses and phone numbers), plus any spread of dates between now and Christmas when you will not be available for reviewing. **Even if you have reviewed for VALA before, we ask that you please complete this task, to simplify the process.** (That is, don't tell us that we know your skills and expect us to complete the spreadsheet<grin>.) In the spreadsheet, the first column is the list of topics we arrived at for the Call for Papers. The second column asks you to insert your name and institution at the top (overwrite what is there), and then the rest of the column shows each cell marked with the default value of O (for OK). Please change the value of O as follows: Y If you are relatively strong in that area (please use Caps Lock) N If you are really not familiar with the area (please use Caps Lock) *Topics remaining as O will be considered as OK for you to review if necessary*. Please complete and return to me at [log in to unmask] by **Thursday 1 August 2013** with details in the covering email as requested above, so that we can compile the list of skills and allocate papers taking into account this information and any known possible conflicts of interest. Please feel free to pass on this message. Many thanks Alyson Kosina VALA Editor VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc. Reg No A0011933K ABN 75 344 574 577 P.O. Box 443 Warrandyte VIC 3113 Phone Direct: (03) 9725 2725 Email: [log in to unmask] -- VALA Executive Officer [log in to unmask] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).