Inspiration, Innovation, Celebration An Entrepreneurial Conference for Librarians

Pioneers, adventurers, and inventors!

The libraries of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Wake Forest University organized a conference entitled, Inspiration, Innovation, Celebration: an Entrepreneurial Conference for Librarians. At the conference we shared and celebrated entrepreneurial accomplishments in libraries, inspired each other to innovate, and created a community of interested librarians who will perpetuate the discussion beyond the conference. We provided a forum and a path, attendees supplied the creativity to make it happen for your institution.

Inspiration, Innovation, Celebration was held June 3^rd and 4^th, 2009 in the Elliott University Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Keynote Presenters

Joyce L. Ogburn

Risk and Entrepreneurship in a Time of Uncertainty

Especially in a time of uncertainty librarians should be aggressively seeking new opportunities for experimentation and entrepreneurship to advance library programs and serve our users better. An essential element of being an entrepreneur is assuming and managing risk effectively. Strategies for risk and entrepreneurship will be explored and suggestions offered to help librarians achieve our desired outcomes.

Joyce L. Ogburn is the University Librarian and Director of the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. Previously Joyce was at the University of Washington, Old Dominion University, Yale University, and Penn State University. She holds degrees in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Indiana University, and an MS in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the University of Utah Joyce co-chairs the Knowledge Management Committee, and is a member of the Council of Academic Deans, the Information Technology Council, and the Cyberinfrastructure Council.

She has led national activities and served many national organizations, among them the American Anthropological Association, American Library Association divisions of ACRL and ALCTS, the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for Research Libraries, and SPARC. As a researcher, Joyce is interested in the history of anthropology, scholarly communication, the future of libraries, and leadership. She believes strongly in interdisciplinary knowledge and the interweaving paths of scholarship that libraries inspire and is passionate about the creation, sharing, and preservation of knowledge in its many forms. Download the presentation.

Steven J. Bell

Librarian Entrepreneurs: Demystifying A Professional Oxymoron

Quick! Think of a great librarian entrepreneur. Not so easy, is it? Librarians are not well regarded as having the entrepreneurial spirit, and finding good examples of noteworthy entrepreneurial innovations within the profession is challenging. Yet you and your library colleagues may already be entrepreneurs without realizing it’s happening. Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian at Temple University, will share ideas and possibilities for tapping into our inner entrepreneurs to deliver great library experiences for our users. Together we need to understand what we mean by “librarian entrepreneur” and how innovation and creativity tie into the formula for entrepreneurial success - even at libraries.

Steven J. Bell is Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services at Temple University. Previously he was Director of the Library at Philadelphia University and Assistant Director at Penn’s Wharton School Library, where he also earned his Ed.D. He writes and speaks about academic librarianship, learning technologies and library management. An Adjunct Professor at Drexel University’s College of Information Science and Technology, he teaches the academic librarianship course. His website and blog, “Steven Bell’s Keeping Up Web Site” and “The Kept-Up Academic Librarian” promote current awareness skills and resources. Steven is a co-founder of the Blended Librarian’s Online Learning Community on the Learning Times Network and has participated in numerous virtual presentations. He blogs for ACRLog, ACRL’s official Weblog, and Designing Better Libraries, a blog about design thinking and library user experiences. He is co-author of the book “Academic Librarianship by Design”. Download the presentation and the handout. Also, see Steven’s ACRLOG post and his interview in UNCG’s Irma Minerva’s Audio Magazine.