Building Capacity for Change: Preparing Us and Our Enterprises for New Information Strategies

Expanding our libraries' capacity to adopt dozens and potentially hundreds of new technologies and web innovations annually is the challenge of our age. Are we able to step up the pace? What are the best and most effective ways to choose the right technologies to test and pilot and which new ones show the greatest promise? How can we position ourselves as the right advisors in our organizations? What is the next generation of the social web?; Web 3.0?; Google Earth?; a mobile world? What are the new rules for placing ourselves as experts and 'in the loop'? Can we really truly compete in this world of free and fast with our slower and considered ways? Can authoritative and authentic information and service win?

Stephen Abram, MLS, is President 2008 of the Special Libraries Association and the past-President of the Canadian Library Association. He is Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He was Publisher Electronic Information at Thomson after managing several libraries. Stephen was listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries. He has received numerous honours and speaks regularly internationally. His columns appear in Information Outlook and Multimedia and Internet @ Schools, OneSource, Feliciter, Access, as well writing for Library Journal. He is the author of ALA Editions' bestselling Out Front with Stephen Abram. His blog, Stephen's Lighthouse, is a popular blog in the library sector.

Co-sponsored by RRC Library & Information Technology Program, RRC Alumni Relations, Western Canada Chapter of SLA, & Manitoba Association of Library Technicians (MALT)

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