2013 Keynote Speakers

The Electronic Resources and Libraries Conference (ER&L) hosted these 3 distinguished professionals as the 2013 Keynote speakers. (Bios, abstracts, handouts and links to full presentations below.)

–> Michael B. Eisenberg, University of Washington Information School
–> Dan Tonkery, Content Strategies
–> Rachel L. Frick, Director of the Digital Library Federation Program at the Council on Library and Information Resources

Monday, March 18, 2013 8:30am-9:40am, Salon C

Listening to Users: What the “Google Generation” Says About Using Library & Information Collections, Services, and Systems in the Digital Age by Michael B. Eisenberg, University of Washington Information School  HANDOUTS –> [HANDOUTS: Eisenberg-ER&L PIL-Lessons for Libraries & Learning] 

[The archived presentation is available here. Bonnie Tijerina starts at 35:50, Fred Heath starts at 39:45, Mike Eisenberg starts at 45:50]

What’s going on with students today and what does it mean for libraries and librarians? What can we do to advance students’ effective and efficient access and use of information, resources, and technology for academic, career, and life readiness? 

This keynote offers conceptual understandings and practical advice based on findings from Project Information Literacy (PIL)—the most extensive and ambitious set of studies about information literacy ever conducted. Drs. Alison Head and Mike Eisenberg have studied well over 12,000 students in dozens of community colleges and public and private colleges and universities in the U.S to learn about their information-seeking behaviors, competencies, and the challenges they face when conducting research in the digital age. 

Through Project Information Literacy, college students speak about what it’s like to be “born digital” in terms of student expectations and needs; how they learned to conduct research for school and everyday life; their skills and gaps; use of libraries, librarians, and the Wikipedia; multi-tasking and use of technologies; procrastination and time management; faculty assignments and handouts. The most recent PIL study looked at the expectations of employers, and what graduates bring to the workplace. 

Dean Eisenberg will explain the challenges and opportunities identified in Project Information Literacy and offer specific strategic and pedagogical recommendations for making a real difference in students’ lives through integration of information & technology skills, resources, and tools into library collections, facilities, and services, and in courses and classrooms. Mike has graciously offered to host a discussion after his keynote session, and details will be shared on-site regarding this encore discussion.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 8:30am-9:30am, Amphitheater 204 

Improving communication and relationships between librarians and publishers, a conversation with Elizabeth Winter featuring Dan Tonkery, Content Strategies [The archived presentation is available here.]

Dan Tonkery has worked in all facets of the information provision endeavor, serving in such varied roles as Associate University Librarian at UCLA, to founder of Horizon Information Services, to VP of Business Development at EBSCO, to his current “retirement” job leading Content Strategies, a business development consultancy specializing in STM publishing. He has experienced the best and worst of librarians, publishers, and intermediaries and is uniquely positioned to help us better understand the strengths, weaknesses, and pain points experienced by publishers and libraries in our dealings with each other. As the ER&L community attempts to stay in step with our broader community and encourage productive engagement between libraries and publishers, this session will be a conversation to tease out some of the things librarians don’t know about publishers and vice versa, to help improve our communication and business relationships. Questions from the audience will be encouraged. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 11:00am-12:00pm, Amphitheater 204

The Courage of Our Connections: Thoughts on Professional Identities, Organizational Affiliations and Common Communities by Rachel L. Frick, Director of the Digital Library Federation Program at the Council on Library and Information Resources 

[The archived presentation is available here] Digital resources, enterprise systems, and other networked library services provide unprecedented opportunities for librarians to collaborate, share resources, and to contribute local talent and expertise towards a broader community benefit. But it also calls into question the librarian’s role in the greater information ecology. This presentation will examine the concept of the networked librarian and how they can transforms library business operations, service offerings, and the library organization. To be an engaged and relevant in today’s networked world, librarians need to be thoughtful and intentional about the connections they make, the communities they engage and support, and how they contribute to their home institution’s health and value by being a vested contributor to the greater library community. The value of the 21st librarian is not only based on how we link the communities we serve to relevant resources, tools, and expertise, but also how we support knowledge creation, teaching and learning. We need to take the hacker approach to our professional responsibilities, continually examining, breaking, rebuilding, connecting openly and honestly, in a shared community-based effort of striving towards improvement. Librarians need to engage the communities they serve through an agile process, creating on demand resources and services built through group contributions within the global library community. Libraries that take advantage and truly understand the network-effect and the impact of digital data, or better yet, those who develop software and services that engage crowd/community-sourced opportunities will become hubs of expertise in the ever-increasing social network of scholarship.