Archived Event

A SirsiDynix Institute Conversation: The 2.0 Meme - Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Librarian 2.0

Date : Feb 22, 2006
Start Time : 11 a.m. Eastern
Length : 01:05:20

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As defined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) a meme is "a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation." Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, fashions, and even ways of building websites. A strong meme in the library world right now is the discussion that builds on the broader Internet conversation about Web 2.0?the interactive, hot Web. This conversation has been developing under the series title, Library 2.0. It's a hot conversation and very interesting since the participants have been musing about:

  • What the next generation of our libraries' Web presence might look like
  • How we might get there
  • What are the best components to use

This SirsiDynix Institute is set up as a conversation with three people who are seriously thinking about how to create the next generation of library Web presence - even before we've finished the last generation. Moderated by Stephen Abram, our panel of Michael Casey, Michael Stephens, and John Blyberg will share their insights.

Do the pre-readings - Attend. Listen. Learn.

Stephen Abram MLS ?Vice President Innovations, SirsiDynix

Stephen Abram, MLS, is the immediate past president of the Canadian Library Association and Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix. He has been VP of Corporate Development for Micromedia ProQuest and Publisher Electronic Information for Thomson. He ran libraries for Suncor, Coopers & Lybrand, Smith Lyons Torrance Stevenson and Mayer and Hay Group. Stephen has been listed by Library Journal as a "Mover and Shaker", one of the key people influencing the future of libraries and librarianship. He has been awarded SLA's John Cotton Dana Award as well as being a Fellow of the SLA. He was a Canadian Special Librarian of the Year and Alumni of the Year for the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto.

John Blyberg ?Network Administrator, Lead Developer, Ann Arbor District Library

John Blyberg is the Network Administrator and Lead Developer for the Ann Arbor District Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was instrumental in the design, development and deployment of their popular new web site. He has also been responsible for the complete overhaul of their network infrastructure and the addition of many vital patron services.

Previously, John worked as the IT manager for the North American branch of the United Kingdom-based car company Lotus Engineering. During that time, he authored a customer management system (CMS) and created a paperless, web-based log system in order to earn ISO 9001 compliance.

John holds a BA in English from the University of Maine and attended three semesters of graduate work in creative writing from the University of Michigan before he left to become a geek.

He is the author of blyberg.net.

Michael Casey ?Branch Manager, Gwinnett County Public Library in metro Atlanta and author of the Library 2.0 weblog: LibraryCrunch

Michael Casey is a branch manager with the Gwinnett County Public Library in metro Atlanta. For the past several months he has been involved in the construction of the system's newest branch, which is scheduled to open in April, 2006. He chairs the library's Emerging Technology Team and sits on the Technology Plan Task Force. He is also author of the Library 2.0 weblog LibraryCrunch. Michael holds a BA in political science and history from Duquesne University, an MA in political science from Penn State, and an MLS from Southern Connecticut State.

Michael Stephens ?Special Projects Librarian and 2005 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, St. Joseph County Public Library

Michael Stephens (BA, Indiana University, 1987; MLS, Indiana University,1995) is Special Projects Librarian at the St. Joseph County Public Library (SJCPL) in South Bend, IN. He has assisted in the creation of SJCPL's staff and public training program, has chaired the library's Web site redesign committee, and currently works on technology-related projects for the library. He published The Library Internet Trainer's Toolkit?a series of technology training modules in CD-ROM with Neal-Schuman Inc. in 2001, and in the U.K. in 2002. He is an associate faculty member at Dominican University in the graduate program for Library and Information Science. He writes Tame the Web: Libraries & Technology