NFAIS Announces 2006 Annual Conference Theme As
Content Unleashed: Delivering the New Information Experience

MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW!

Philadelphia, PA, July 20, 2005 - NFAIS (www.nfais.org), the premier membership association for organizations that aggregate, organize and facilitate access to information, announced today the theme and location for its 2006 Annual Conference, Content Unleashed: Delivering the New Information Experience. The conference, scheduled for February 26-28, 2006 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, will focus on current communication and information seeking behaviors and how traditional information providers and libraries must adapt their products, business models and even their organizational structures in order to provide the satisfying information experience that users now expect and demand.

"A new information experience has been created" said NFAIS President-elect, Linda Beebe. "Combined with sophisticated search engines and autonomous agents, the Web has become the dominant worldwide search and retrieval system. This system not only meets the information needs of its users, but also provides them with a highly satisfactory "experience" - from start to finish. It is enjoyable, multi-sensory, and interactive. Simply put, it's "cool," and as a result it has captured the mindshare and loyalty of a global user base of scholarly researchers and information consumers."

Beebe noted that traditional information providers - publishers and librarians alike - have offered respected and authoritative content for centuries. But she emphasized that the products and services built around that invaluable content must keep pace with user expectations of real-time, interactive information exchange, multimedia content, access to analytic and desktop management tools, and rapid releases of product enhancements. Those products and services must also deliver the "cool factor" and reflect user definitions of quality and value-add in order to meet current market expectations.

"As the information landscape evolves, rapid response to change is key to success" said Linda Sacks, a member of the conference planning committee. "An organization must be nimble. Its corporate culture, product development philosophy, and organizational structure must foster an environment capable of quickly identifying and reacting to trends in the marketplace. Also critical is a willingness to take risks - to develop and test new business models that are reflective of today's communication and information seeking behaviors. The conference program will include case studies from a variety of organizations - libraries included - that will offer real-life experience in the development of these essential qualities for success."

Additional program highlights include keynote speaker RJ Pittman, co-founder and CEO of Groxis, presenting an overview of the factors that are driving the new information experience, and a session on how today's users define quality and value-add within the context of the total information experience. Successful product development philosophies and practices will be showcased along with technologies that enable information providers to deliver the new information experience. Innovative new products that actually deliver the "cool" factor will be presented and a futuristic view of the information landscape will provide insights on the products and services that will be required to deliver the new information experience of the year 2010.

For more information, bookmark this page, or to be added to the mailing list for updates on the 2006 NFAIS Annual conference, contact Jill O'Neill, Director of Communications and Planning (jilloneill@nfais.org or (215)-893-1561) or visit the NFAIS web site (http://www.nfais.org).

This program is being developed by the 2006 NFAIS Annual Conference Planning Committee.