Information Professional as Detective Contest

(Vancouver, May 21, 2008) The Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services (CASLIS) invites Canadian library and information specialists to explore their creative side and apply their skills to solve a mystery.

To enter the contest, we want you to create an information specialist (be it librarian, records manager, knowledge management consultant, or whoever) who makes use of their professional skills to turn detective. You don’t need to write the entire novel. Just give us:

• A title
• An outline plot summary
• An extract

The total length of the entry (including the title, summary and extract) should be no more than 500 words long. Entries will be judged on their entertainment value and the inventive use they make of our specialist skills rather than their potential interest to a literary agent.

Entries will be reviewed by a jury composed of librarians and mystery writers. The winner will be awarded a $50 gift certificate from a mystery bookstore. The jury members are:

• Evette Berry, Calgary Public Library
• Ross Gordon, Director, RCMP Library and Canadian Police College Library
• Mary Jane Maffini, mystery writer and lapsed librarian

All submissions will be published in the October 2008 edition of Special Issues: Bulletin of the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services. Members of the Canadian Library Association will be invited to vote for the winner of a People’s Choice Award who will receive a $25 gift certificate from a mystery bookstore.

Entries should be submitted to CASLIS.SpecialIssues@gmail.com by September 15, 2008.