Sharing – the foundation of social institutions

Stephen Abram
Gale Cengage Learning

Play (43min)

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Sharing is at the core of libraries and librarianship. Many worries are aimed at the changes we see in libraries’ stock – e-books, articles, serials, databases, buildings. What if the major changes are what is happening in the sharing economy? How are recommendations changing? What will technological change do to the question economy? Library folk are generally employed in social institutions – government, public libraries, schools, colleges and universities. Do the new and emerging collaborative and social tools change the very dynamic of the business model for libraries? What about social action? Can we ignore the power of tweets, wall postings and social networking to change the world, topple governments or influence public policy? And lastly, whither the serial as a social act of sharing knowledge, perspectives and insights? Stephen will explore these issues in this session.

STEPHEN ABRAM, MLS, is Past-President 2008 of SLA and the past-President of the Ontario and Canadian Library Associations. He received the 2011 CLA Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award last June. He is the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Markets for Cengage Learning (Gale). He was Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He was Publisher Electronic Information at Thomson after managing several libraries. Stephen was listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries. He has received numerous honours and speaks regularly internationally. His columns appear in Information Outlook and Internet @ Schools, OneSource, Feliciter, Access, as well writing for Library Journal. He is the author of ALA Editions’ bestselling Out Front with Stephen Abram. His blog, Stephen’s Lighthouse, is a popular blog in the library sector.