NFAIS Forum oN User-Generated Content and Social Media

When:
Friday, June 29, 2007

Location:
PALINET Headquarters
3000 Market Street - Suite 200
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2801
 

  Final Agenda

 

9:00am - 9:05am: Welcome

Bonnie Lawlor, Executive Director, NFAIS
Maureen Kelly, Consultant, Moderator

9:05am - 9:30am: User Generated Content: Current Status

Michael Mahoney, Business Development Manager, Nerac, Inc. [ Slides ]

This session will provide an overview of user-generated content tools such as blogs, bookmarks, wikis, etc. and where they fall in their lifecycle with regard to development and user acceptance. In addition, the major hosting services and distribution channels will be discussed along with the features and functionalities that are essential to facilitate the conversation, collaboration and overall productivity integral to any online community - including those within a corporate environment.

9:30am - 11:00am: Blogging as Professional Practice in the Information Community

Steven J. Bell, Associate University Librarian for Research & Instructional Services, Temple University [ Slides ]
Rafael Sidi, Vice President, Product Development, Elsevier Engineering Information [ Slides in PDF ]
Barry Graubart, Vice President, Product Management, Alacra, Inc. [ Slides ]

This session will focus on the value of a blog as a communication tool. Three information professionals will discuss why they have adopted this new technology - whether it be for current awareness, academic discussion or commentary. They will provide insight on the time and effort involved, how users find their blogs, the feedback that they have received from users within their specific community, and the pros/cons of blogging as an effective communication channel.

11:00am - 11:15am: Break and Networking Opportunity

11:15am - 12:15pm Syndication of User-Generated Content

Lawrence F. Schwartz, CEO and President, Newstex [ Slides ]
Jonathan Hoy, Strategic Alliance Manager, LexisNexis [Slides Removed at Request of Speaker]

Blogs with proven value are increasingly being considered as yet another source of information, not unlike journals, newspapers, reviews, etc. This session will discuss how one information provider identifies important blogs for inclusion in information packages, the criteria used for selection, and the method used, if any, for compensating the author. The subject disciplines that have content-rich blogs will be highlighted, along with those disciplines in which the technology has not yet been widely embraced. In addition, an online service provider will discuss how they are currently incorporating blogs into their services, the level of usage to date, and their plans, if any, for increasing the use of blogs as a source of information.

12:15pm - 1:15pm Lunch and Networking Opportunity (lunch provided)

1:15pm - 2:45pm: The Collaborative Information Workplace

Nicole Engard, Metadata Librarian, Princeton Theological Library. [ Slides ]
Barbara Brynko, Editor-in-Chief, Information Today, Inc. [ Slides ]

This session will focus upon the effective use of collaborative communication tools within the workplace. The speakers will discuss why they adopted such technologies and how they identified the tool(s) most appropriate for their specific need(s). In addition they will discuss implementation issues such as user resistance, the learning curve required, and any unanticipated problems that may have arisen. The level of success achieved to date and any emerging trends that they have observed will also be discussed.

2:45pm - 3:00pm: Break and Networking Opportunity

3:00pm - 4:30pm: Community Wisdom

 

Diane Pardee, Chief Marketing Officer, SelectMinds.com [ Slides in PDF ]
Hilary Spencer, Product Development Manager, Nature Publishing Group [ Slides in PDF ]
Abby Blachly, Chief Librarian, Librarything.com [ Slides ]

This session will discuss the pros and cons of creating an online community for the purpose of collaboration and/or adding value to users. Speakers will discuss why they created an online community, how they selected specific functionalities for use by that community (blogs, forums, static pages, wikis, etc.), which of those functionalities have been the most successful, and the problems most frequently encountered by those responsible for administrating the community. In addition, they will highlight the benefits that members have derived from their participation as well as the return on the investment that their organization has received as a result of creating the community.

4:30pm: Adjournment

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