[Web4lib] VALA2010 National Conference - Keynote Speakers

[VALA Executive Officer]

   *Apologies for cross-postings*

          VALA2010: Connections, Content, Conversations
                        9-11 February 2010
      Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia

Please remember to pass this email on to your colleagues! 

Dear Colleague,

VALA is delighted to announce the remaining three keynote speakers for
the VALA2010 Conference.

Karen Calhoun is Vice President, OCLC WorldCat and Metadata Services. In
this role, she is charged with charting a course for the future of
cataloging and metadata services and extending WorldCat’s global
reach. With a background at OCLC and at Cornell University, Ms. Calhoun
is active professionally in research and as a speaker. Recently 
Ms. Calhoun was principal investigator for The Changing Nature of the 
Catalog and its Integration with Other Discovery Tools, a Library of
Congress-commissioned study that proposed new directions for the library
catalog in the digital era. See also
http://www.oclc.org/reports/onlinecatalogs/summary.htm.

Xiaolin Zhang is Executive Director of the National Science Library of
Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the largest research libraries in
China. He has also been active at the national level for coordinated and
collaborative development of digital libraries, for strategic planning
of the National Scientific Information Platform, for promotion and
experimentation of knowledge-oriented services, and for leading the
national effort in digital library standards. He led the large scale
study of copyright issues and policies for the Chinese Science Digital
Library, was one of the first to be involved in the Open Access
movement, and was instrumental in organising Chinese studies on digital
preservation policies and infrastructure. He has been a Governing Board
Member of IFLA and is a Standing Committee Member of Asia and Oceania
Section on 2005. See http://www.las.ac.cn/zxl/

Stephanie Orlic is head of the Unit "Projects and Partnerships outside
the museum", in the Multimedia division of the Cultural Production
Department at the Musée du Louvre. She is in charge of the joint Louvre
- DNP Museum Lab project (http://www.museumlab.jp/english), which is
using geospatial tagging, mobile devices, and multilingual systems to
engage with patrons. A graduate in Art History and in Information and
Communication Sciences, she worked in multimedia companies with the
audiovisual group CANAL+ before arriving at the Louvre in 2005, where
she has been working on the issues of multimedia mediation for art
museums.


VALA has already announced the following three keynote speakers for
VALA2010.

Lee Rainie is the Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project,
a non-profit, non–partisan "fact tank" that studies the social impact
of the internet. Lee is a co-author of Up for Grabs: The Future of the
Internet, Hopes and Fears, and the forthcoming Ubiquity, Mobility,
Security, a series of books about the future of the internet published
by Cambria Press and based on Project surveys. Lee is also co-authoring
a book for MIT Press about the social impact of technology with
sociologist Barry Wellman that will be published in 2010. The working
title is Connected Lives: The New Social Network Operating System. An
internationally respected speaker, Lee gave the opening keynote address
at the recent 2009 US Computers in Libraries conference. For further
details on Lee, see http://www.pewinternet.org/Experts/Lee-Rainie.aspx.

McKenzie (Ken) Wark is the Associate Professor of Media Studies, Eugene
Lang College and the New School for Social Research
(http://www.newschool.edu/lang/faculty.aspx?id=23748). Ken is a theorist
of media and new media with interests in new media technology,
intellectual property, computer games, and new media art and culture. He
is the author of A Hacker Manifesto (2004), Gamer Theory (2007), and
other works. Ken was a member of the Nettime network of new media
artists, theorists, and activists for many years and served as co-editor
of their anthology Readme! (1999). He has also worked with the Institute
for the Future of the Book http://www.futureofthebook.org/mckenziewark)

Marshall Breeding is the Director for Innovative Technologies and
Research from Vanderbilt University
(http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding). Marshall is also the
person behind http://www.librarytechnology.org, as well as being the
author of the annual survey into library automated systems, and of a
number of important ALA Library Technology reports on open source ILS
and next generation catalogues.


As well as the six international keynote speakers, VALA2010 will feature
a number of new, innovative, and practical programmes. The Conference
will also feature quality papers from the Australian, US, New Zealand,
and South East Asian library and information sectors 

With the theme of Connections, Content, Conversations, VALA2010 will
take place at the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (on the
other side of the river) from Tuesday 9 February to Thursday 11 February
2010. Note that we have again left Monday and Friday for associated
events, meetings or workshops - contact the VALA Conference Office at
info at wsm.com.au if you are interested in holding a workshop or
associated event.

The Main Announcement and Registration Brochure will be available in
August 2009 - contact the VALA Conference Office at info at wsm.com.au if
you would like to be added to the list to receive a copy. Remember, you
and your organisation will be able to get best value for money by being
full members of VALA and paying for your registrations by 30 November
2009, so make your budget plans for the rest of this year accordingly!

And if you know a vendor you would like to see at the trade exhibition,
the sponsorship and exhibition proposal is also now available - follow
the links from the VALA2010 Home page or contact our Conference Office
at info at wsm.com.au for a copy.

Alyson Kosina
Executive Officer
VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc.
Reg No A0011933K ABN 75 344 574 577
P.O. Box 509
Mooroolbark VIC 3138
Phone: (03) 9725 2725 Fax: (03) 8625 0079
Email: vala at vala.org.au