Syracuse iSchool Prof. R. David Lankes to speak at Swedish Library Association conference

The Swedish Library association’s annual conference “Bibliotekdagarna” will feature a talk by Syracuse University School of Information Studies Associate Professor R. David Lankes. Lankes will present “The Librarian Militant, The Librarian Triumphant.”

Held for the past 10 years, Bibliotekdagarna is the biggest library conference in Sweden and includes librarians from a diverse set of working environments. Lankes will be the final of four speakers, including Prof. David Nicholas, director of the Department of Information Studies at University College London. Lankes has been invited to participate in the entire three-day conference held in Visby on the island of Gotland from May 11 through May 13, 2011.

In addition to his role as associate professor, Lankes is the director of the library and information science program at the iSchool. He also directs the Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS), and is a co-founder of the award-winning AskERIC project and founder of Virtual Reference Desk project responsible for building a national network of education expertise. He is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society, and seeks to understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform industries. In this capacity, he has served on advisory boards and study teams in the fields of libraries, telecommunications, education, and transportation, including at the National Academies. Lankes holds a BFA in multimedia designs, an MS in telecommunications and network management and a Ph.D., all from Syracuse University.