NFAIS Names Lorcan Dempsey as 2010 Miles Conrad Lecturer

Philadelphia, PA, March 1, 2010 - The National Federation of Advanced Information Services (NFAIS™), the premier membership association for organizations that create, aggregate, organize and facilitate access to authoritative information, has announced that Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President, Research & Chief Strategist, OCLC will be presented with the prestigious Miles Conrad Award on March 1, 2010 at the NFAIS 52nd Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA.

The objective of the Miles Conrad Memorial Lecture, established in 1965 in commemoration of NFAIS founder, G. Miles Conrad, is to recognize and honor those members of the Information Community who have made significant contributions to the field of information science and to NFAIS itself. "Lorcan Dempsey is well-known and respected within the Information Community, especially in academia and among librarians worldwide," said NFAIS President, Terence Ford. "His writings have often served as the catalyst for new thinking with regards to digital libraries, networked information, cloud computing, and other critical issues. His vision with regard to information policy and knowledge management has had an impact on educational institutions and libraries around the globe. The NFAIS Board is very pleased to bestow our organization's highest honor upon him."

Dempsey expressed both surprise and pleasure when contacted about his selection as this year's Miles Conrad Lecturer. "It is quite an honor to receive the Miles Conrad Award, especially when one looks at the impressive list of those who have been chosen in the past," said Dempsey. "I am surprised and humbled to join their ranks and most appreciative of NFAIS for their recognition of my work. And I also want to thank the librarians and other information professionals with whom I have collaborated over the years, because it is together that we are shaping a new global information environment."

Dempsey himself is quite global and his career has shaped a variety of library and educational organizations both in the UK and the US. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he worked there in public libraries for several years. He later served as Director of UKOLN (formerly known as The United Kingdom Office for Library and Information Networking), a national UK research and policy unit hosted by the University of Bath. He subsequently worked for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), also in the UK, overseeing national information programs and services and providing the framework that has shaped the UK Higher Education national information environment. He left JISC in 2001 to join OCLC in Dublin, Ohio as Vice President, Research, and was subsequently named Chief Strategist.

Dempsey writes and speaks internationally and his extensive public presentations and formal published writings have a huge audience. His commentary on the current information environment can be followed on his weblog at http://orweblog.oclc.org/ and on Twitter. He recently stepped down as a member of the NISO Board and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He is on advisory committees for Cambridge University Library, CISTI, Europeana, and Ithaka among a range of engagements. He also is a co-founder of the web-based Ariadne Magazine.

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Founded in 1958, NFAIS is a membership organization of more than 60 of the world's leading producers of databases and related information services, information technology, and library services in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, and the arts and humanities. For more information on NFAIS and its member organizations, on NFAIS Annual Conferences and meetings or the Miles Conrad Memorial Lecture series, contact Jill O'Neill, Director of Communication and Planning (jilloneill@nfais.org or (215)-893-1561) or visit the NFAIS web site (www.nfais.org).

NFAIS: Serving the Global Information Community

1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1004, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215-893-1561 phone, 215-893-1564 Fax, nfais@nfais.org, www.nfais.org).