The future-ready theme is continued by the two keynote speakers, who present inspiring and thought-provoking views of the future of information provision, libraries, and the role of information professionals. Opening keynoter Peter Morville will discuss ‘Inspiration Architecture: The Future of Libraries’. Morville is perhaps best known for his role in the creation of information architecture, and for his advocacy of the critical roles that search and findability play in defining the user experience. He will argue that to understand the future of the library, we must look to the tools and contexts – both physical and digital – where learning takes place. The disruptive innovations of open access and online courses are changing the architecture of education, with the result that the “embedded librarian” and the “single search box” aren’t just nice ideas: they’re mission-critical.
The second keynote speaker is Joe Tree, founder of BAFTA-winning Blipfoto, the photo sharing website, which was chosen by the British Library as number two on its list of ‘100 Websites’. Joe will consider the themes of community creation, image curation, lifelogging, social history and research, and will share the inside story of how he set up Blipfoto, including the important decisions that were made early on to create a set of principles to underpin the community. This led to the development of a strong and positive culture which now only requires a small level of intervention.
An increasing number of social and networking events and awards are being organised around the conference. In addition to the ‘official’ conference reception, delegates are invited to attend an SLA Europe panel session and networking drinks, and the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) drinks party. In addition, the presentation ceremony for UKeiG’s Jason Farradane and Tony Kent Strix awards will take place at the conference.
The conference also features three one-day pre-conference workshops which focus on effective web search, future technologies and libraries, and libraries and MOOCs.
Readers can review the full conference programme here. There are discounts for members of a wide variety of associations, and also generous discounts of 40% for more than one delegate from the same organisation. View registration options here.