ASIST 2001 Annual Meeting
   November 2-8, 2001
   J.W. Marriott Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Technical Sessions

Sunday, November 4                                                               

1:30pm Keynote Presentation

Keynote Presentation - Brewster Kahle

For the first time in our history, thanks to rapid advances in digital technology, we have the potential to provide almost universal access to the collective knowledge of our society. But along with this unparalleled opportunity, come new challenges and duties. In our opening keynote presentation, industry leader Brewster Kahle will offer a thought-provoking examination of the roles, rights, and responsibilities of our libraries, archives, Web sites and other information institutions in providing public access to information in the digital age. He will explore how innovative thinking and approaches during this crucial time can have a far-reaching impact on the future of education and scholarship.

Mr. Kahle is best known as the inventor of both the Internet Archive and the Wide Area Information Server (WAIS). He is president of Alexa Internet, a company he founded in 1996 and recently sold to amazon.com. He also founded WAIS Inc., a pioneering electronic publishing company in 1989, and co-founded Thinking Machines, a parallel supercomputer maker in 1983. He served as lead engineer for Thinking Machines for six years. Mr. Kahle received his BS degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1982. At MIT, he studied artificial intelligence with Marvin Minsky and W. Daniel Hillis. He has been recognized as a member of the Upside 100 in 1997, the Micro Times 100 in 1996 and 1997, and the Computer Week 100 in 1995.

Moderator
Clifford Lynch, Coalition for Networked Information
 

3:30pm Sessions

Knowledge Management-The Practitioner's View
(SIG KM)

Overview
Knowledge management (KM) is increasingly being viewed by businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies as an essential ingredient for their success. To develop an effective KM system, though, organizations must overcome an array of technical, organizational, personnel, and communication challenges. In this session, speakers will provide a hands-on, real-world look at how to develop, implement and operate an effective KM system and how to incorporate it into an organization's existing information management strategy.

You Will Learn About

• A case study in which KM was used to integrate 39 disparate databases into a common system
• An international KM system, which supports 157 "communities of practice" worldwide
• How taxonomy brought a common vocabulary to the operation of a global KM system
• Efforts to assess the benefits of KM programs

Presenters
Cynthia Dickinson, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Ana Flavia Fonseca, The World Bank
Suzanne Marcy, Ernst & Young
S. Michael Malinconico , University of Alabama

Moderator
Lucian Russell , DynCorp Information Systems
 

Critical Information Theory
(SIG HFIS)

Overview
In this session, speakers will examine current thinking in the field of critical information theory.

You Will Learn About

• Critical epistemology and how it is used in the fields of sociology, management theory, and organization behavior
• The concepts of "general intellect" and "immaterial labor" and their relationship to the historical trajectory and future possibilities of information science

Nick DyerWitheford, University of Western Ontario
General Intellect, Immaterial Labor and the Future of Information Science

Ronald Day, Wayne State University
The Folds of Information: Shaping Method, Shaping Society
 

Information in a Networked World: Globalization and Cultural Identity
(SIG III, DL)

Overview
It has been said that the Internet is turning the world into a single, global village. In this session, speakers will examine the Internet's impact on globalization and cultural identity and conversely the effect of culture on the Internet.

You Will Learn About

• The impact of culture on technology transfer
• The effect of the Internet on cultural expressions
• How classification schemes facilitate the functioning of transnational economic exchange
• Issues and challenges associated with using the Internet as a medium for preserving native culture

Moderators
Nadia Caidi, University of Toronto
Bahaa EIHadidy, University of South Florida
 

Digital Libraries
(Contributed Papers)

HurLi Lee, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Networked Collections in Question: An Exploratory Study

Laurie Stackpole, Naval Research Laboratory
Developing and Managing a Local Digital Archive for Integrated Access to Journals and Other Publications

James King, Naval Research Laboratory
Integration of the NRL Digital Library
 

Leadership Development Program

Focused Talk: Learning What your Organization's Members are Thinking

Overview
Organizational leaders are regularly faced with the task of making strategic decisions that impact the growth of their organization and the services extended to their members. But how can leadership determine what members want? This session outlines procedures to conduct focused discussion that can help leadership learn more about their existing and potential members, and what these people expect out of the organization. Topics covered will include defining the issues to be discussed, interpreting the comments of panel members, and tips for forming an action plan from the focused discussion. Focused discussion is a useful tool beyond the professional arena as well, because it can improve how people communicate in other contexts including special interest clubs and social organizations.

Presenter
Suzie Allard, M.S.L.S., spent 10 years as a vice president and partner in a private sector consulting firm that researched consumer attitudes and helped clients shape product and policy. During that time, she conducted hundreds of focus groups with people ranging from corporate executives to children and she worked with clients to design successful actionoriented strategies. She has significant experience in research design, procedure development and implementation, interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data, and project management. She is currently a doctoral fellow at the University of Kentucky, focusing on the environment defined by digital libraries and their role in knowledge creation. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences as well as published in several journals.

Association for Information Science and Technology
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