This document provides biographical information about Claire McGuinness and her career path, research interests, and publications. It details her experience working as a librarian from 1993-1999 and 2001-present, obtaining her MLIS in 1995 and PhD from 1999-2005. Her research and teaching focuses on information literacy, professional identity of teaching librarians, academic-librarian collaboration, and qualitative research methods. The document also outlines her process for publishing journal articles, book chapters, and her experience writing a book for Chandos Publishing.

1. Claire McGuinness
February 24th
2011
www.ucd.ie/sils

2.  Mix of professional practice and
academic/research/teaching
 Library work 1993-94,1996-99
 MLIS 1995, PhD 1999-2005, Post-Doc
2006-2007
 Lecturer in SILS: 2008-present
 Teaching in SILS: 1999-present

3.  Information Literacy - concepts, instructional strategies,
assessment, impact
 Professional Identity and the "Teaching Librarian"
 Reflective Practice in the Library profession
 Academic-Librarian Collaboration
 Theories of Learning (behaviourist, constructivist,
social learning), student-centred learning, enquiry-
based & problem-based learning
 Use of social networking applications (Web 2.0) for
teaching and learning
 Information behaviour in educational contexts
 Qualitative Research Methods, especially
Phenomenography

4.  3 book chapters
 6 peer-reviewed journal articles
 1 conference proceedings
 And book in progress......
 Different routes to getting published....

5.  Conference presentation: Book chapter
in 2003 based on paper given at ILIT
conference in 2003 (Information Literacy
& Information Technology, precursor to
LILAC).
 Martin, A. & Rader, H. Information & IT
Literacy: Enabling learning in the 21st
Century. Facet, 2003.

6.  Committee Membership: Chapter in 2003
book “Information Literacy in Europe”
arose from being representative for
Ireland on European Network on
Information Literacy (ENIL).
 Invited chapter – based on “profile” as
Irish information literacy researcher

7.  Journal Articles: Normal process of
submitting articles “on spec” to selected
academic journals, and undergoing
peer-review process.
 Used knowledge of field, and ISI Web of
Knowledge Journal Citation Reports
(Social Sciences edition) to select journal

9.  4 research papers, 1
discursive/theoretical, 1 practice-based
 Based on:
 PhD Research
 Irish Information Skills Survey 2006-7
 “Real-life” experience of teaching Stage
One information skills module

10.  Focus in higher education is on peer-
reviewed publications & research
funding
 Book – long-term project with lower “rate
of return” in terms of tenure, promotion,
etc.
 So, why write one?

11.  Incentives for writing a book:
 Experience: Awareness of gaps in market –
imagined the kind of book I would like to
use if I was an LIS student or information
practitioner. Also kind of book I would find
useful as an LIS instructor
 Building idea over time of what a book
could look like, visualising chapters, content

12.  Too much material for journal article – lots to say!
Not really based on research, more about
practice than theory
 Desire to connect with the professional
community, not just the LIS research community
 Development of a personal reputation in the field
 Personal satisfaction

13.  Original research you have done
 Recognising gap in the market – cannot find
what you are looking for, so write it yourself!
 Experience of teaching or training – material
suitable for textbook
 Feel that you could improve upon existing
books
 “Call for Authors” from publisher/direct
approach
 (Patrick Brindle, Sage Publications)

14.  Received personal email in November
2009 from Jonathan Davis, editorial
assistant at Chandos Publishing. Subject
line was “Call for Authors”
 First reaction – checked to see if it was
genuine! Google search.....

15.  “As part of an on-going publishing effort,
Chandos Publishing is commissioning a
series of short books relating to
librarianship, publishing, information
management and information science,
written from a management, legal or
technical perspective.
 My purpose in writing to you is to enquire
whether you would be interested in writing
such a book, based on your experience.”

16.  Replied, with brief expression of interest,
but not committing fully at that point
 Received an Author Proposal Form to
complete, along with Chandos catalogue
 Invited to submit my own ideas, rather
than the publisher’s brief

17. AUTHOR AND TITLE INFORMATION
1. Book title and subtitle (if any)
2. Author's/editor's full name
3. Please provide some biographical
information about yourself, including
current position and affiliation
4. Full mailing address (work)
5. Full mailing address (home)
6. Telephone Fax Email

18. SUBJECT MATTER
8. Please write a short description of your
book
9. Please list up to five features of your book
which make it unique
10. Please list the proposed contents, including
chapter, section and sub-section headings
(use the additional page(s) if necessary

19. MANUSCRIPT INFORMATION
11. Approximately how many words would you expect your
book to contain?
12. How long do you estimate it will take for delivery of the
completed manuscript (most authors take, on average, six
months)?
13. Will you be able to prepare your manuscript on a word-
processor? If so, what software will you be using?
15. Please tick the following for any special physical features
you would expect to include in the book:
tables
illustrations
problems/solutions
photographs

20. THE MARKET
16. Please identify the readership for your book
PRIMARY MARKET
SECONDARY MARKET
17. Is the book mainly aimed at practitioners or students?
18. If the book has a student market, which courses are likely to
be interested in the book?
Level
Typical student numbers
Length of course
Is the course optional or compulsory?
Would your book be for main adoption, supplementary reading or
recommended reading?

21. COMPETITION
19. Please list, in order of importance, any books
which compete directly with or are similar to
your book. Please supply (if possible)
author/editor, publisher, publication date, price and
any further information you feel relevant (please
use a separate sheet if necessary).
20. Please outline in what ways your book is better
than and differs from the competitors mentioned
in section 19.

22.  Proposal reviewed by editor at Chandos,
Glyn Jones
 Accepted – “subject to contract”
 Publisher then carries out a “Project
Investment Appraisal” exercise (PIA)
 Involves analysing competing titles,
readership, break-even point (how many
copies need to be sold)

23.  January 2010 – proposal accepted fully
 Contract sent out – Chandos’ Standard
Publishing Agreement
 Manuscript submission deadline –
January 1st
2011, minimum of 40k words,
max. 75k

24.  Rough division of workload
 Six chapters; 40000 words minimum, 75000
max.
 Approx. 8000 words per chapter,12500 max.
 Remember also that references eat up a lot of
the word count. Also, end of chapter exercises.

25.  Approx 2 months per chapter max.
 Aimed for faster completion time
 Target: ca. 2000-3000 words per week
 Started with Chap 1, wrote in sequence
 Sub-headings already set out in proposal

26.  Wrote steadily – eventually too extra day solely
dedicated to book project
 Did not stick rigidly to word lengths per chapter. Some
chapters longer than others depending on content
 Kept a rough tally of word length as I went along
 Sent 2 completed chapters to publishers in June for
approval
 Tip – create bibliography as you go.

27.  Submitted final manuscript in mid-December, after
removing two sections to cut down the word count.
 In early January, received email that manuscript was
good to go, and was being sent to “RefineCatch”, a
company which manages books through all stages of
production
 Manuscript sent to copy-editor, who looks for errors
such as missing references, etc

28.  Proofs being prepared
 Proof-reading in March, plus compilation
of index
 Typesetting to be completed early May
 Publication scheduled June 30th
2011

30.  Thank you!
 Claire.mcguinness@ucd.ie