A Special Event in Cambridge, MA: The Library is Dead. Long Live the Library! The Rebirth of Libraries in the 21st Century
From time to time we'll post info about a special event on ResourceShelf and this is one of those times. This sounds like one interesting day of presentations and discussion. We're working to find out if the the event will be webcast live and/or available as an archived event online.
On Tuesday, December 08, 2009, NEASIS&T (New England Chapter of the American Society for Information Science) is sponsoring and all day program (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM (ET)) about libraries in the 21st Century. The event will take place at the MIT Media Lab – Bartos Theater in Cambridge, MA.
Library closures, slashed budgets, user apathy – everything’s online, right? It’s a story many of us have heard too often or experienced ourselves, especially with the recent downturn in the economy. But many libraries are re-inventing themselves, offering new services and transforming into very different entities while still at heart performing the same role they always have – helping communities connect with information.
Come to this NEASIS&T program to hear:
+ How changes in publishing are driving changes in libraries. How can we radically change an ancient institution that evolved from providing shared print copies into one that effectively provides online content (that we often don’t even own). It’s time to get past the kludges in our processes and organizational structures and embrace our future.
+ What it takes to be a librarian these days. What skills and interests are necessary? In 10 years will we be librarians or technologists?
+ Success stories from libraries that have radically changed their roles and services.
+ How to design your library around user expectations and keep your organization relevant.
Speakers Include:
+ John Palfrey, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School & Co-Director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
+ Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian for Research & Instructional Services at Temple University’s Paley Library
+ Shana Kimball, Publications Manger at the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library
+ Marguerite Avery, Senior Acquisitions Editor at The MIT Press
+ Cyril Oberlander, Associate Director of Milne Library at the SUNY College at Geneseo
Info about ticket prices and ticket ordering info info is available here. A ticket for the general public costs $75. However, special rates are available for SLA members, NEASIST members, students, and retirees.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
FreePint Family
Quilting big data threads
The fallacy of information overload
Information overload: fact, fantasy or filter failure? 
