• Focus and Scope (Content Areas)
• Guidelines for submissions
• Opinion Writing Guidelines
• Submissions
• Guidelines for images
• Editing and approval process
• Upcoming deadlines

Focus and Scope (Content Areas)

Material selected for publication should fit into one of the following categories: Executive Updates, News, Features, Conference Reports, Professional Development Opportunities, Events, Opinion. For more details on these sections, see the Content Areas section.

Guidelines for submissions

• All submissions must fit within the Perspectives Focus and Scope.
• Submissions will be edited for brevity, clarity, and consistency of style and format, following the Canadian Press Stylebook for grammar.
  • For additional guidance, consult any publication of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
• Submissions should follow generally accepted rules of sentence structure and grammar.
  • Use of active voice. For example:
    • Passive= “The cat was bitten by the dog.”
    • Active= “The dog bit the cat.”
  • Avoid the use of the first person; 3rd person is preferred point of view (even when writing about your organization). For example:
    • 1st person= “We implemented a new program.”
    • 3rd person= “Sunnyvale Library implemented a new program.”
  • For additional guidance, consult any publication of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
• It is expected that articles are based on fact and balanced.
• Secondary sources must be cited, using an in-text author date system, with a reference list placed at the end of the article.
• All submissions must have at least one author. Multiple authors will be accepted.
• All authors must include a simple biography.
  • For example: Jane Smith is a Librarian at Pleasantville Public Library in Pleasantville, B.C.
• All photos/images must be accompanied by a description of the photo and the name of the photographer.
• It is expected that the contributor has cleared copyright permissions for any photo/image submitted to Perspectives.
• Minimum word length per article is 150 words. Maximum word length is 2,000 words.

Opinion Writing Guidelines

Opinion pieces reflect personal and/or professional opinion. They add to an existing debate or begin a new discussion. Opinion pieces are thoughtful, respectful, measured, and present evidence-based argument. They do not use inflammatory language, cliché, or make unsupported and/or wide-sweeping allegation. Opinion pieces are provocative and require the writer to take a position. Strong opinion pieces state the argument at the beginning, present factual and non-emotive evidence, and address potential counter-arguments. The writing is in active – not passive – voice. Most importantly, opinion pieces should inform and engage BCLA membership and encourage dialogue.

All opinion pieces in Perspectives will be noted as such and will contain the byline and short bio of the author. All current editorial policies apply to opinion pieces. These policies include the Perspectives Focus and Scope.

Submissions

Submission process

• Authors should submit articles using the Perspectives template; however, template submissions will also be accepted as:
  • raw text in a .doc or .docx file format and
  • high-resolution digital images (at least 300 DPI in .jpg file format)
• Use the online form for submissions

Deadline for submissions (subject to change with specific issues):

• Story pitches and ideas are due the first of the month
• Content due by the 15 of the month

Guidelines for images

• All images must be high-resolution (at least 300 DPI)
• Color images are preferred, but not required
• The submitting author/institution must have the right to allow the image to be reproduced, or the image must be in the public domain. Submitters will include copyright license, creative commons information or other credits where appropriate.

Editing and approval process

All content is reviewed by the Editorial Board and Editors, and the final copy of the publication is approved by the Editorial Team.

Content that has been previously published, including via the BCLA email listserv, must be re-purposed for use within Perspectives. Content authors will assume full responsibility for ensuring that the rights of materials, imagery and artwork for their content have been cleared prior to submission to the Perspectives.

If errors or incorrect information are brought to the attention of the Editorial Board, a message will be included in the next issue noting the error and correction.

Publication dates and deadlines

In 2021 we will publish 3 issues of Perspectives.

Issue 1: The Remote Work Issue

Issue 2: Summer 2021 – Human Resources

Issue 3: December 2021