Moving Library Cooperation to Web Scale

I'm looking forward to participating with fellow librarians in a series of member events hosted by OCLC and LYRASIS this year. These events will center on cloud computing and Web-scale solutions... which seem to be the buzz-words for 2010. I would say there is just cause for this attention. It's important to look for new ways to do old things that allow us to move forward and actively participate in today's information economy. These events are intended to spark serious thinking and discussion about how and when we embrace cloud computing solutions.

What excites me most is the opportunity to interact, listen and learn from the library community. In addition to having thought-provoking speakers such as Rachel Frick, Tim Daniels, and Tim Rogers, there will be time for librarians to try out various cloud computing tools and discuss how they might improve workflows in their library. People will have the opportunity to interact both with workgroup peers and across divisions within the library. Hopefully, this will help us all broaden our perspectives on what makes the best sense from this plethora of new services.

The first event is being held at the Free Library of Philadelphia on October 15 from 9am to 4:30 pm. It's a free event, and lunch is included. If you're in or around Philadelphia on that day, we'd love to have you at the event. You can register here.

I hope to see many of you over the course of this year as we learn from the experts and from each other how to take advantage of new technologies and solutions.