Presenter Information

Important Dates and Deadlines

• Look out for the early bird rate announcement in February to register for the conference!
• You may edit your abstract in Pretalx until May 1, 2026. After that deadline, your abstract will be sent to JCHLA/JABSC for publication.
• Your abstract will appear in the conference issue of JCHLA/JABSC. If, for any reason, you wish to withhold your abstract from publication in JCHLA/JABSC, please contact Ashley Farrell, Senior Editor (senior-editor[at]chla-absc[dot]ca) by May 1, 2026.
• Content submitters have been notified of a decision of acceptance by December 15, 2025.
• The call for proposals closed on November 14, 2025 (23:59 EST). 

Presentation Guidelines

Paper

• Presentations are 15 minutes in length followed by 5 minutes for questions, for a total of 20 minutes
• PowerPoint is the preferred presentation software
• During the session:
  • Please acknowledge any conflicts of interest
• A moderator will introduce you, manage questions, and act as timekeeper

Lightning Talk

• Presentations are 5 minutes in length
• PowerPoint slides are optional
• During the session:
  • Please select only one presenter to speak for you talk
  • Please acknowledge any conflicts of interest
  • There will be a joint question and answer session after all the lightning talks are presented
• A moderator will introduce you, manage the joint question and answer sessions, provide a land acknowledgement at the beginning of the session, and act as timekeeper.

Workshop

• PowerPoint slides are optional
• 90 minutes in length, including time for a break if needed.
• Please acknowledge any conflicts of interest
• Introduce yourself since no moderator will be provided
• Ensure the session starts and ends on time since no timekeeper will be provided

Panel

• PowerPoint slides are optional
• 60 minutes in length no breaks
• Please acknowledge any conflicts of interest 
• Your own moderator will introduce the panelists and manage questions
• A timekeeper will be provided to ensure the session starts and ends on time

Poster

Official poster set-up time, presentation time, and take-down time will be shared prior to the conference. Poster authors will be asked to staff their poster during a scheduled poster session.

The dimensions of your poster will be specified in advance of the conference.

Your poster should be visually interesting while also being informative. 

Some tips for poster design:

• Posters are visual. Add pictures, graphs, charts, etc.
• Keep text to a minimum and use a large font size so the poster can be read from a distance
• Use white space. Don't overwhelm the reader with too much text or graphics
• If you laminate the poster, consider using a low-glare or matte finish
• Consider an approach like #betterposter to improve engagement

Accessibility

Please consider accessibility when developing and delivering your content for CHLA/ABSC 2026. Making your material accessible to all helps everyone. Consider the following suggestions to improve accessibility for printed content (slides or posters):

• Use an easy-to-read font and font size.
• Ensure there is an appropriate level of contrast between your text and background, and avoid using colour alone to draw attention to specific elements.
• When presenting, verbally describe important charts and images.
• If available, use organizational branding and templates that already conform to accessibility standards.

Here are some resources with more information on making accessible PowerPoints and posters:

• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Government of Canada - Accessible PowerPoint Page
• Power Point accessible
• Better Scientific Poster
• CNIB Clear Print Accessibility Guidelines. 

If you have questions about accessibility accommodations, please contact info[at]chla-absc[point]ca

Land Acknowledgement

We encourage all our speakers to include an appropriate land acknowledgement and positionality statement in their presentation. For support on creating a land acknowledgement, we recommend the NAHLA Land Acknowledgement, Template for Personalization, Definitions, and Speaker Protocol or the CAUT Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory.

Please note: For lightning talks, due to time constraints, the moderator will provide a land acknowledgement at the beginning of the session.

Instructions for submitting a proposal

Individuals submitting a proposal must provide the following information:

• A biography (maximum 100 words) for themselves, as well as for any co-presenters. These biographies will be included in the Conference Program.
• The names and affiliation for all authors (including the submitter) who contributed to the work. This information will be published along with the submission abstract in the Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association (JCHLA).

Note: At least one member of your group must attend the conference in person to present.

• Pretalx biography and picture
  • Additional space is available on page 3 of the submission form to update the submitter’s Pretalx account biography and picture. We strongly encourage the submitter to complete their Pretalx bio and picture on that page as this information will be used in the Online Interactive Conference Schedule.

All presenters are encouraged to create a Pretalx account and complete their bio and add a picture for inclusion in the Online Interactive Conference Schedule.

Research project abstracts or program descriptions must adhere to the Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association Author Guidelines.

Proposals will be peer-reviewed. You may consult the evaluation rubric before writing and submitting a proposal.

Accepted abstracts will be published in the Pretalx Online Interactive Conference Schedule, the Conference Program, and published in JCHLA.

Presentation Formats

Option 1) Paper, Poster & Lightning Talk Submissions

Submitters selecting this type of proposal must also indicate their preferred format for presenting their work: Paper (20 minutes), Poster or Lightning Talk (one presenter, 5 minutes).

The abstract must not exceed 250 words (excluding section headings, which should appear in bold). The abstract should follow the guidelines of the Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association. References should not be included unless necessary, in which case full bibliographic citations must be provided.

You may submit either:

• i) Research abstracts: report on designing, conducting, and analyzing a research project.

or

• ii) Program description abstracts: describe the creation or improvement of products, programs, technologies, administrative practices, or services conducted by librarians, library technicians, and/or other information professionals.

Note: If research results and conclusions are not yet available, they may be added to the abstract at the end of the peer review process, provided the abstract does not exceed 250 words.

Option 2) Interactive Workshop Submissions

Interactive workshops are in-depth, participatory sessions designed to promote learning through action. Workshops must focus on a specific topic and be 90 minutes in length, including time for a break if needed.

The abstract for a workshop must not exceed 250 words (excluding section headings, which should appear in bold). The abstract should include the topic, target audience, objectives, and a description of the interactive activities.

Additional space is available on page 2 of the submission form to include three (3) learning objectives, a detailed description of the planned interactive activities, and logistical requirements (room setup, technology).

Option 3) Panel Submissions

A panel discussion is 60 minutes long and may include up to four (4) panellists, in addition to a moderator. Panellists are invited to share differing perspectives through brief oral presentations, in order to explore a specific theme or topic. Presentations are followed by a Q&A period, allowing participants to interact directly with the panellists.

The abstract for a panel must not exceed 250 words (excluding section headings, which should appear in bold). The abstract should include a description of the topic/theme to be covered, as well as a brief overview of each panellist’s presentation.

Additional space is available on page 2 of the submission form to include the biography of each panellist and the moderator.

Code of Conduct

CHLA/ABSC's Code of Conduct applies to all presenters and attendees.

We ask that all presenters review the JCHLA Publication Ethics Policy and the ICJME recommendations for guidance on appropriate reporting of scholarly work.

Submission FAQs

I already have a Pretalx account, can I use this same one?

Yes, you are encouraged to use an existing Pretalx account if you have one. If you do not, you will need to create an account. You will have the option to include a bio and a photo.

May I enter my results/outcomes and discussion when I submit my abstract?

Yes, you may enter your results/outcomes and discussion when you submit your abstract. All parts of the abstract (introduction, methods/description, results/outcomes, and discussion sections combined) may not exceed 250 words. Authors MAY postpone entering results and conclusions until after the peer-review process is completed. Authors selected for inclusion in the program will need to add the results and conclusions sections by the beginning of January 2026 if they did not already do so in the initial abstract submission. Note that the word limit for the abstract cannot exceed 250 words. Original abstract submissions may need to be modified to meet the 250-word limit.

May I include tables, figures, or citations in my abstract?

No, structured abstracts should NOT contain tables, figures, or bibliographic references.

How do I know if my proposal was successfully submitted?

Everyone who submits a proposal will receive an automatic email from Pretalx confirming receipt. If you haven’t received a confirmation email within 24 hours of submitting your proposal, please check your spam and trash folders.

How can I withdraw a submitted proposal?

Everyone who submits a proposal can withdraw a proposal before the call for proposals closes by logging into your Pretalx account and navigating to 'My proposals', click on the proposal title and use the withdraw button at the bottom of the page. To withdraw a proposal after the call for proposals has closed, please contact Nigèle Langlois nigele.langlois[at]uottawa[dot]ca

How will I know if my proposal has been accepted?

Everyone who submits a proposal will receive an email notification from Pretalx regarding the outcome of their abstract submission by December 15, 2025, if you haven’t received a notification email by mid-December, please check your spam and trash folders.