ALCTS announces

Contact: Charles Wilt

Executive Director, ALCTS

312-280-5030

For Immediate Release

September 21, 2006

ALCTS announces "Definitely Digital" as Midwinter Symposium

CHICAGO - The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is pleased to announce "Definitely Digital: An Exploration of the Future of Knowledge on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of ALCTS" as its 2007 Midwinter Symposium on Friday, January 19, 2007 in Seattle.
"Definitely Digital" is supported by the generous sponsorship of Amazon.com.

"Definitely Digital" examines significant changes in scholarly communication, library services, collections and staffing created by the digital environment. The symposium speakers will discuss scholarship in the digital age, new communication models, the future of cooperative technical services and enabling technologies, and the training and education of staff working with digital collections.
Statements, intentionally controversial, and intended to evoke discussion from the panelists and stimulate audience participation will be available in advance on the ALCTS web site.

The keynote speaker Dr. James Hilton, vice president and chief information officer, University of Virginia, will explore "Scholarship in the Digital Age: Opportunities and Challenges."

Featured speakers include:
Lorcan Dempsey, vice president and chief strategist, OCLC on "Moving to the Network Level: Networks Change Structures"; Meg Bellinger, associate university librarian for integrated library systems and technical services, Yale University, on "Library Collections and Technical Services in the Digital Age: Perspectives and Predictions for the Profession at the Half-Century Mark"; and Greg Tananbaum, author, consultant, and former president, Berkeley Electronic Press, on "Scholarly Communication 2.
Oh: New Models of Publishing and Library Services."

Brian Schottlaender, University of California-San Diego, will lead a stellar panel in a discussion of the challenge statements.
Panelists include Tom Clareson, program director for New Initiatives, PALINET; David Nuzzo, head acquisitions, SUNY-Buffalo Library; Oliver Pesch, chief strategist of electronic resources, EBSCO Information Services; and Robert Wolven, director of library systems and bibliographic control, Columbia University Library.

Registration for this all day symposium is through the ALA Midwinter registration form and is $199 for ALCTS members.

Join us for this opening event in the celebration of the ALCTS 50th Anniversary.

ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.