Contact: Alec Zoeller
azoeller@umd.edu
(301)-314-9142
x49142
Path to the Future: Dr. R. David Lankes
Event: You Are the Future of Libraries: No Pressure, a presentation by R. David Lankes
Date: June 18, 2008 from 3:00 PM until 4:30 PM
Location: Special Events Room, 6127 McKeldin Library, the University of Maryland at College Park
R. David Lankes, PhD, is director of the Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS) and associate professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. As a passionate advocate for the integral role of libraries in modern society, Lankes explores the integration of human expertise in information systems and seeks to better understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform our library services. Through his research and public presentations, he challenges all librarians:
If libraries are obsolete in 10 years, it’s your fault. It’s my fault too. As Alan Kay once said “the best way to predict the future is to invent it.” So since we are the people ultimately responsible for creating the future, we are the future of the library. Assume for a moment “they” are right … you know, them. The ones who say that the Internet/ Mass Digitalization /Search Engines/ Wikipedia/Document Right Management/ Whatever is going to put libraries out of business. Assume that the stacks are bare, the coffee bars are empty, and the ivy is left to run riot over the columns. Is there still a library? If that strikes you as an odd question, let me ask you another one. Is the future of the library a question of stacks, coffee bars or ivy?
Lankes has led such projects as the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology, the Gateway to Education Materials, AskERIC and the Virtual Reference Desk. Under his leadership, the IIS has led research efforts for the MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, as well as projects for some of the country's leading telecommunications companies.
He has been appointed as a visiting fellow at the National library of Canada, the Harvard School of Education and the first fellow of ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy.
Lankes appears as part of Path to the Future, a University of Maryland Libraries, College Park speaker series that presents visionary leaders in information technology and services. These presentations are free and open to the public.
For more information contact Joan Stahl at (301)-405-9065 or jstahl@umd.edu
