Wired magazine editor ChrisAnderson to speak at ALA Annual conference

Contact: Larra Clark


ALA Media Relations


312-280-5043


lclark@ala.org

For Immediate Release


May 10, 2006

Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson to speak at ALA Annual Conference

(CHICAGO) Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of
Wired magazine, will speak at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference program Monday, June 26, at 10:30 a.m. He also will sign copies of his forthcoming book "The Long Tail" at the Hyperion booth in the conference exhibits area immediately after the program ends at noon.

Prior to taking over
Wired in 2001, Anderson was with
The Economist for seven years in London, Hong Kong and New York in various positions, ranging from technology editor to U.S. business editor. His background is in science, starting with studying physics and doing research at Los Alamos and culminating in six years at the two leading scientific journals,
Nature and
Science.

"The Long Tail," discusses how our economy and culture is shifting from mass markets to million of niches. It chronicles the effect of the technologies that have made it easier for consumers to find and buy niche products, thanks to the "infinite shelf-space effect" – the new distribution mechanisms, from digital downloading to peer-to-peer markets, that break through the bottlenecks of broadcast and traditional bricks-and-mortar retail.

"Of all the books about the ‘revolution’ that the ‘new economy’ is, this is the first to deliver on the promise. Anderson maps as compellingly as anyone could just what is different, and critically important about the world digital technologies has created," said Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law School professor and chair of Creative Commons.

The program is sponsored by the ALA Information Commons Membership Initiative Group (MIG). Members interested in learning more about information commons can subscribe to the
COMMONS@ala.org listserv.

The ALA Annual Conference (June 22-28, 2006) is the world’s largest library gathering with more than 2,000 meetings, discussion groups, special events, tours and programs on various topics affecting libraries and librarians. For more information on the conference, please visit
www.ala.org/annual.