Internet Librarian International Conference Recap
By Birgit Bauer
Once again, several hundred librarians and information professionals from about 30 countries from all over the world met at the 2019 Internet Librarian International (ILI) conference in London on October 15th and 16th. More than 60 lectures and case studies, interactive sessions, and social events provided an overview of current developments and new ideas. Sessions on digital technologies and their use in libraries could be found in all six tracks, from user experiences to low cost high impact marketing, new visions, strategies and technologies, and the “rebooted” librarian.
A Look Outside the Box: Learning from Start-Ups
Who would have thought to hear a plea for technology start-ups at a conference for libraries? The first keynote, “Create, innovate, collaborate: learning from start-ups” was presented by Yvonne Campfens, consultant in the Dutch publishing industry. Campfens had studied in detail 120 independent technology start-ups in the publishing industry, such as Protocols.io or AboutResearch (German). The British Kudos (Growkudos.com), for example, helps researchers and authors ensure their publications get disseminated, found, and cited. AcademicLabs is a Belgian platform for matchmaking in R&D. Linknovate tracks market and technology information online for innovations and competitive information using machine learning algorithms and data analytics. The remarkable results of Campfens’ study: Some start-ups are already making millions of US$ in revenues and some have already been acquired – and, for the most part, not by scientific publishers as would have been expected. Campfens recommends cooperating with and learning from technology start-ups, the young companies often have good ideas and a different take on success, and they are fast, focused and flexible. (See her white paper at http://bit.ly/36Icm7p)
People come to work, study, meet, hangout …
Over the last few years it has already become evident that new concepts, thoughtful design, and numerous activities bring buzz into the previously silent libraries. Case studies on fun technology and coding sessions, virtual reality installations, creator spaces, or strong digital support by library staff gave food for thoughts.
New skills, new roles for Information Professionals?
Some participants were particularly interested in the future of their profession. Denise Carter, research consultant from Switzerland and member of AIIP, inspired with her presentation on the “future-proof librarian”. She compared key skills McKinsey defines as necessary for all employees by the year 2030 with the ones librarians already have: “We ARE well-placed to help our own organizations and society by providing guidance and knowledge (and wisdom) on data governance, data quality, information literacy, and ethics.” But “New roles do not come to us – now is not the time to be passive but to push us forward and let the world know what we can do.”
Research, Taxonomy, and more
Recent developments in research, tools and databases were highlighted by several AIIP veterans: Marydee Ojala, co-chair of the conference, and Arthur Weiss, Aware Ltd. (Great Britain), gave their views on recent developments in the main conference. Marydee, Mary Ellen Bates and Karen Blakeman (GB) presented news on search engines and search techniques in the pre-conference workshop, “Search Skills Academy”. Heather Hedden, AIIP member as well, spoke on the Taxonomy Boot Camp next door.
Other sessions covered topics such as libraries for distance learning, user experience, repositories, open source management, artificial intelligence and machine learning in libraries, and many more. Overall, the 2019 Internet Librarian International Conference was an inspiring event with great insights, and I am already looking forward to the 2020 conference.
Birgit Bauer is the owner of Bauer Business Research, a consultancy based in Vienna, Austria, specializing in market intelligence and research training. She is a long-standing member of AIIP. Her research book “Jobsuche im Internet – einfach, schnell, erfolgreich” will be available in the summer of 2020.
