ACRL 2011 keynote speakers revealed

Contact: Margot Conahan


ACRL


(312) 280-2522


mconahan@ala.org

NEWS


For Immediate Release


April 20, 2010

Philadelphia conference to feature Tiffany Shlain, Raj Patel and Clinton Kelly

CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) will present a celebrated lineup of keynote speakers for the ACRL 2011 National Conference, “A Declaration of Interdependence,” to be held March 30 – April 2, 2011, in Philadelphia. Be challenged and entertained by ACRL’s three distinguished speakers, who also double as activists, authors, filmmakers and television personalities.

Opening Keynote Session, March 30, 2011 – Tiffany Shlain,
award-winning filmmaker, artist, Internet pioneer and activist

Tiffany Shlain is an award-winning filmmaker, artist, Internet pioneer and activist. Founder of The Webby Awards and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, she was honored by
Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century.” Her films have been selected at over 100 film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca and Rotterdam, and have won 20 awards including Audience and Grand Jury Prizes. Shlain’s films are a fusion of documentary and narrative known for their whimsical yet provocative approach to unraveling complicated subjects such as politics, cultural identity, technology and science. She is currently working on a feature-length film and Internet project, “Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence,” set for completion in winter 2010. Watch a clip from the upcoming film, along with a lecture, at
http://www.connectedthefilm.com/Trailer.html.

Shlain’s talks are entertaining, insightful, informative and highly visual explorations of topics including interdependence, the Internet and its effect on society, American Jewish identity and the creative process. A clip of Shlain discussing how sharing films on the Internet has changed the world is available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8UGdWSwqo.

Friday Keynote Session, April 1, 2011 – Raj Patel, economic activist and academic

Activist, academic and much-in-demand speaker Raj Patel is an authority on the world economic system and the international food crisis. Patel brings the idea of interdependence to his writings about sustainability, the food crisis and democracy. Currently, he is a visiting scholar at the University of California – Berkeley Center for African Studies, an honorary research fellow at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a fellow at The Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First. He is an award winning author of five books including “Voices of the Poor: Can Anyone Hear Us?”
, “Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System”and the 2010 New York Times best-seller, “The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy.”

Patel has written more than a dozen articles, all of which are open access and freely available on his Web site,
http://rajpatel.org, along with a links to his blog and several thought- provoking videos.

Closing Keynote Session, April 2, 2011 – Clinton Kelly, television co-host and author

What happens when a renowned fashion expert with an international following comes to ACRL? Find out when Clinton Kelly, co-host of TLC’s “What Not to Wear,” delivers the closing keynote at ACRL 2011. A renowned fashion expert and author who specializes in helping individuals achieve personal and professional transformations, Kelly will discuss why we are often averse to change and how to turn this fear into positive action. Kelly achieved his own transformation to television stardom from the world of fashion journalism where he worked for such publications as Marie Claire, Mademoiselle and DNR. You’ll want to be there when Kelly delivers the closing keynote address and sends thousands of academic and research librarians home with inspiration and ideas for a better self and a better library. Just don’t expect $5,000 for a new wardrobe.

A video of Kelly discussing how his ideas on change and style can be applied personally and professionally is available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG5Cm8rL-Bw.

Additional details about the ACRL 2011 National Conference are online at
http://www.acrl.org/acrl/nationalconference. Registration opens in May 2010.

For more information about ACRL 2011, contact Margot Conahan at
mconahan@ala.org or (312) 280-2522.

###

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 12,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community