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Points of Pain, Peculiar Possibilities, and a Patron Paradise or, A Slightly Arbitrary Set of Hair-brained Ideas

Roy Tennant

Manager, eScholarship Web and Services Design
California Digital Library

26 February 2003

9:00-9:30 Coffee and Pastries
9:30-11:00 Presentation

OCLC Auditorium
6565 Frantz Road
Dublin, OH 43017

The Internet has brought a world of information to the front doorstep of virtually anyone with a computer. Schoolchildren quickly learn that a simple Google search is all they need to do their homework. These same children will one day grow up to vote for or against taxes and bonds that support our library buildings and services and pay librarians' salaries.

We have, at best, half a generation in which to reclaim their hearts and minds and demonstrate that libraries are just as essential to their lives and communities in the digital world as they have been in the physical one. We need imaginative thinking, bold action, and a propensity to take risks.

Roy Tennant's presentation will point out areas where we are failing (points of pain), possible solutions that may at first appear to be peculiar, and a vision of patron paradise that may never become real, but that is worth seeking nonetheless.

Roy Tennant is an award winning, internationally recognized pioneer in digital library development and internet training. As manager of Web and services design for the California Digital Libraries, he created and manages the eScholarship web site. eScholarship partners with librarians, scholars, academic publishers, information technologists, and professionals in organizations such as archives, historical societies and museums, to explore and enable new modes of scholarly publication.

Since November 1997, Roy has written the monthly column "Digital Libraries" for Library Journal. Roy also developed the popular network publication Current Cities in 1990, which continues to provide monthly reviews of information technology literature.

Come to be challenged, to challenge the speaker, and perhaps look at your job a little differently than before.

Articles by Roy Tennant:

  • "MARC Must Die," Library Journal, 127, no. 17, (Oct. 15, 2002): 26, 28.
    • Available online to registered LJ users.
    • Non-registered users may follow the link and register for free.
  • "MARC Exit Strategies," Library Journal, 127, no. 19, (Nov. 15, 2002): 27.
    • Available online to registered LJ users.
    • Non-registered users may follow the link and register for free.

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