Introduction

2009 DLS moderator and panelists in Denver

The 11th Annual Digital Libraries Symposium, held in Denver on January 24, 2009, addressed "Next Gen Librarians: Who Are They & What Do They Want?"

Panelists included Next Gen librarians Jack Maness with the University of Colorado at Boulder and Denise Pan with Auraria Library, joined by MLIS student Refugio Ramirez from UCLA and university library director Gary Strong also with UCLA.

The discussion covered career paths, the library director's view on Next Gen librarians, skill sets needed to achieve career success in academic libraries, and what Next Gen librarians are glad they learned or wish they had learned in library school.

Want more DLS 2009 information?

• Read the symposium program.
• Read DLS coverage in the Wake Forest University   Z. Smith Reynolds Library's Professional Development blog.
• Listen to this   podcast of the panelists' discussion.

Photo: Sitting left to right, Gary Strong, Refugio Ramirez and Denise Pan. Standing left to right, panel moderator Elsevier Global Library Relations Director Daviess Menefee and Jack Maness.

2008 DLS (Theme: Assessing the Library's Role)

Paula Kaufman speaks at the 2008 DLS

UF Senior Associate Dean of University Libraries John Ingram's talk

John spoke on Millennials' information needs. To understand this generation’s library needs, he runs focus groups with his students and high-school students. His findings could suggest a new paradigm for undergraduate library services.

UIUC University Librarian & Dean of Libraries Paula Kaufman's talk

Paula spoke on the academic library's ROI. For details on points she covered, see the Library Connect white paper, "University Investment in the Library: What's the Return? A Case Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign."

NJIT University Librarian Richard Sweeney's talk

Rich spoke on characteristics of this generation. He went on to ask questions crucial to consider when providing services and products supporting young scholars: How can we give Millennials the flexibility, convenience, choice and control over their time that they want? How can we provide relevant, efficient services? How can we offer “learning by doing” experiences? See Rich's presentation.

2007 DLS (Theme: Collaboration)

CRKN Executive Director Deb deBruijn's talk

Deb spoke on “The Changing Nature of Consortia: Building Serious Interdependence.” See Deb's presentation.

Microsoft Senior Researcher Cathy Marshall's talk

Cathy spoke on personal digital libraries. See Cathy's presentation.

Elsevier Senior Vice President Karen Hunter's talk

Karen spoke on “Publishers and Librarians: Competitors or Collaborators?” See Karen's presentation.