http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/events/2004/
http://www.metro.org/2004_spring/visions_future.html
"Enter the Twilight Zone where two worlds collide: The orderly, rational world of libraries, versus the anarchy and chaos of the Web. Are the two incompatible, in this the Age of Google? Please join us on May 21 at the Brooklyn College Library to explore these issues that will affect your future–the future of libraries, museums, archives, and librarians. The emerging information landscape calls for new roles for library staff, balancing traditional and electronic content, and digital approaches to preservation. It's time to think differently!"On May 21 noted futurist Clay Shirky and OCLC's Vice-President Cathy DeRosa described the patterns they observe in the Twilight Zone, serving as tour guides through the landscape that chaos and order inhabit together. This was area librarians' opportunity to join in a discussion about collective strategic directions for libraries and the technological trends that affect library services.
More than 100 librarian participants from the five boroughs, New Jersey, and Connecticut gathered to hear our two exciting speakers. Clay Shirky www.shirky.com, one of the most influential people on the Internet today, writes and speaks about emerging technologies, the challenges of digital preservation, and the changes that will come about in the institution of the library; he is a consultant to the Library of Congress' National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, Nokia, and the BBC. Cathy DeRosa, Vice-President at OCLC, is the primary author of her company's 2003 Environmental Scan http://www.oclc.org/membership/escan/introduction/default.htm, a study of the impact on libraries of new information trends, including bids by Google and Amazon for a place at the table.
Associate Librarian for Research and Access Services Miriam Deutch deserves all the credit for this wonderful day. It was she who superbly planned and executed the event.
