STEM

iSchool’s Lankes to present virtual conference on eBooks

Tuesday, September 28, 2010, By News Staff

Bird Library serves as local host

School of Information Studies Professor R. David Lankes will deliver the keynote presentation at “eBooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point,” a virtual conference held at the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons in Bird Library at Syracuse University on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

As a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society, Lankes 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 received a B.F.A. in multimedia design, an M.S. in telecommunications and a Ph.D. from SU. In the past, Lankes has worked on multiple projects, including the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology, the Gateway to Education Materials, AskERIC and the Virtual Reference Desk. He has been a visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada and the Harvard School of Education, and he was the first fellow of the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy. He also currently serves as the director for the library and information science program at the iSchool.

The conference will be streamed online from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., with Lankes’ final keynote, “The ‘New Librarianship’ in the Age of the eBook,” beginning at 5 p.m. He will also stop by the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons after his online presentation for an additional, local Q-and-A session.

Attendees of the online conference will also have full access to online exhibits and the academic library tracks during the afternoon. The program list can be found at http://ebook-summit.com/program.  All are welcome to attend at any time of day.

For more information about the conference, contact Patrick Williams (jpwill03@syr.edu), Mary DeCarlo (mmdecarl@syr.edu) or Tasha Cooper (nacoop01@syr.edu). Individual registration is not required.