[WEB4LIB] Access98 blowout

[Sloan, Bernie]

Our humble Web4Lib moderator neglects to mention that the
conference program lists him as keynote speaker for this conference.
Don't be so modest, Roy!  :-)

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
University of Illinois Office for Planning & Budgeting
338 Henry Administration Building
506 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL  61801
Phone: (217) 333-4895  
Fax: (217) 333-6355
Email: bernies at uillinois.edu

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Roy Tennant [SMTP:rtennant at library.berkeley.edu]
> Sent:	Thursday, October 08, 1998 1:35 PM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	[WEB4LIB] Access98 blowout
> 
> I just returned from one of the best professional conferences I've ever
> attended. I say this not to brag or make you feel like you missed out, but
> to bring your attention to one of the best-kept secrets in North America.
> But don't take my word for it, look at this partial list of speakers and
> make up your own mind. Web4Lib readers should recognize a number of these
> people. Many of their presentations are online at
> http://library.usask.ca/access98/program.htm, but you need to remember
> that you are missing the informative and witty remarks that accompanied
> them.
> 
> But of course one of the most important aspects of the conference was the
> informal time spent talking with 200 of your library systems peers and a
> few rogue administrators who snuck past the registration staff. So take my
> advice and mark you calendar now for Access99, October 25-27, 1999,
> Guelph, Ontario. If it is anything like this year's, it could be the best
> conference money you've ever spent.
> 
> Some highlights:
> 
> Thomas Dowling, OHIOLINK - Thomas held forth in his inimitable and highly
> entertaining way about Web standards and the inability of either of the
> top browsers to pay the slightest attention to them. 
> 
> Peter Scott & Darryl Friesen, Univ. of Saskatchewan - Of course Peter is
> best known for HYTELNET, a hypertext guide to library catalogs before
> anyone knew about something called the Web. You don't know Darryl yet, but
> you will. They tackled library intranets.
> 
> Terry Noreault, OCLC - Terry Noreault talked about how librarians are
> responding to the challenge of creating organized interfaces to the chaos
> that is the Web.
> 
> Tim Bray, Textuality - My money is on XML to be the next "killer
> application," and there is no one better than Tim Bray to tell you why,
> and how it fits into the landscape of markup languages and technologies. 
> 
> Lou Rosenfeld, Argus Associates - Web4Lib readers have already heard me
> rave about Lou's book "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web."
> Lou is even better in person, if you can imagine that.
> 
> Steve Sloan, Univ. of New Brunswick - Steve covered some of the techniques
> he is using to serve some amazing digital content, ranging from the
> dictionary of a native language (complete with sound clips) to the diary
> of a loyalist. What he called Perl I call alchemy, he made it look so
> easy.
> 
> Clifford Lynch, Coalition for Networked Information - Clifford needs no
> introduction. As a fellow speaker, it absolutely appalls me that he can
> comfortably fill an hour with interesting and informative conversation
> with no apparent means of support (where are his slides?). If you haven't
> heard him speak, you're missing a treat. And judging from his conference
> schedule, you have also probably been absent from the planet for the last
> decade.
> 
> George Machovec, CARL - George pulled off the amazing feat of making
> authentication and security interesting. And for his next act...
> 
> Greg Notess, Montana State Univ. - Readers of Online and Database are very
> familiar with Greg's practical, no-nonsense information about vital
> technologies. It was our luck that he is even better in person.
> 
> Rich Wiggins, Michigan State Univ. - If rolling in the aisles with
> laughter while learning a good deal about search engines is your idea of a
> good time, we missed you. "Mr. Gopher" cemented his position as a
> flexible, entertaining, and informative speaker who could help "make" your
> conference. I'm thinking of starting a caption contest using his
> Powerpoint slides.
> 
> Joyce Ward, Northern Light - Usually I steer well clear of speakers from
> companies trying to sell me a product. But Joyce made me moderate my
> stance with a presentation that was soft on the hard sell while being long
> on content.
> 
> In addition to these world-class speakers, there were a number of panel
> presentations, project descriptions, and good presentations, some of which
> I missed while trying to scoop up some gifts to placate my children at
> home. David Fox and company at the University of Saskatchewan Libraries
> have my gratitude for putting together a truly wonderful program. I can't
> wait for Access99!
> Roy Tennant
>