Category: Presentations News

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“Massive Scale Librarianship” Plenary Presentation, Charleston Conference, Charleston, SC.

Slides available at: /rdlankes/Presentations/2006/Charleston.pdf

You can also download and listen to an audio recording of the presentation here (or through my Podcast): /rdlankes/pod/Charleston.mp3

There are two types of discontinuities faced by a field: those you expect, and those that you don’t. The Internet was an unexpected event in librarianship. Few could look at the early days of telnet, gopher, and even the web and truly appreciate its impact on libraries. Yet even so, library science has adapted. Not always elegantly, not always completely, but adapted. Unlike the Internet that had a largely unexpected impact, very large scale computing is an obvious coming challenge. We know computing power, storage and bandwidth are going to increase. Knowing this, it is incumbent upon the library and information science field to consider what is a world like where you can walk around with the entire contents of the Internet in your pocket.

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“The Social Internet: A New Community Role for Libraries?” Lecture, Pratt Institute SILS, New York, NY

Slides available at: /rdlankes/Presentations/2006/PrattSocial.pdf

Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, Blogger these web services have begun to redefine how communities form and work on the web. What lessons can libraries learn from these services to improve their own websites? How can libraries extend their efforts to provide community gathering places to the web? This presentation will discuss how libraries can not only improve their own web services, but help shape the whole concept of communities on the web. This presentation will be based on an ALA’s Office of Information & Technology Policy and Syracuse University’s Information Institute of Syracuse project on the social Internet.

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“Reference in Academic Libraries: Virtual Reference” OCULA Spring Workshop, Toronto, ON, Canada

Slides and handouts for the workshop are now online at:

/rdlankes/Presentations/2006/Toronto.pdf

Here’s the abstract:

On day one join David Lankes as he looks at current issues and themes in digital or virtual reference. Libraries are taking reference to the web and this is creating challenges for librarians in terms of new skills, staffing requirements, and budget demands. This workshop will cover the basics of virtual reference, virtual reference tools, current trends and a little crystal ball gazing into the virtual reference future.