Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: base line
ISSN: 1943-65481
Website: http://www.ala.org/magirt/publications/baseline/
Purpose, objective, or mission: base line is the official publication of the Map and Geospatial Information Round Table (MAGIRT). MAGIRT “leads and inspires information professionals at all levels of expertise in their work with map and geospatial information resources, collections, and technologies in all formats, through community, education, and advocacy.”2 “The purpose of base line is to provide current information on cartographic materials, other publications of interest to map and geography librarians, meetings, related governmental activities, and map librarianship.”3
Target audience: As per MAGIRT’s site: “People interested or involved in any aspect of map or geospatial librarianship.”4
Publisher: American Library Association.5
Peer reviewed? No.6
Type: LIS professional news.7
Medium: Online.8
Content: Each issue “provide(s) current information on cartographic materials, other publications of interest to map and geography librarians, meetings, related governmental activities, and map librarianship.”9
Frequency of publication: base line is published electronically six times a year: in February, April, June, August, October, and December. All older issues of base line are now freely available on the MAGIRT website.10
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: On the first page of each issue: http://www.ala.org/magirt/publications/baseline/
Types of contributions accepted: base line calls itself “a medium of communication for members of MAGIRT and information of interest is welcome.”11 Articles related to cartography, geography, “related governmental activities, and map librarianship ” would be welcome.12
Submission and review process: Depending on article content, contributions can be sent to one of the editors, check the first page of the latest publication. These are the editors as of April 2020:
Editor: John A. Olson
Government and Geo-Information Librarian
Syracuse University
Tel: 315-443-4818 E-mail: jaolson@syr.edu
Distribution Manager: Mike Smith
Subject Specialist for Maps, California Gov Info, GIS
Coordinator, UCSD
Tel: 858/534-1248 E-mail: mls003@ucsd.edu
Cataloging Editor: Tammy T. Wong
Cartographic Materials Cataloger
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress
Tel: 202/707-6735 E-mail: twon@loc.gov
Digital Mapping Editor: VACANT
New Maps and Books Editor: Kim Plassche
Sciences Librarian, Liaison to Geography & GIS
University at Buffalo
Tel: 716/645-8168 E-mail: kf43@buffalo.edu13
Editorial tone: Articles tend towards an informal, but professional voice.14
Style guide used: Not specified.
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
Although there is an informality in tone to this publication, there is still room for a more professional article related to geospatial information. This publication offers a good opportunity for a writer with experience in this field of librarianship to be published.
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: As a benefit of membership in MAGIRT, base line reaches 313 members on top of being freely available on the web.15
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: This publication is based in the U.S. and is written in American English.16 As members hail from across North America, authors should avoid using local terminologies or dialects, and should be tailored to a national audience.
Reader characteristics: Readers are mostly members of MAGIRT. As such, one can assume that the majority of readers are “involved in the geospatial librarianship world.”17
Reader knowledge of LIS subject matter: Readers are generally professional librarians, so a high degree of specialized LIS knowledge can be assumed.
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
The readers of base line are interested in professional news. Authors would want to write short articles and reports relevant to MAGIRT committee work and topics related to geospatial librarianship. Members of MAGIRT seem eager to “connect with like-minded people, to learn, or to impart…knowledge.”18 Although the pool of readers is relatively small, the LIS author who is interested in geospatial information will find a supportive and interested readership in base line.
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