Podcasts

Online Information, in conjunction with Talis , are producing a series of ‘Talking with Talis' podcasts, interviewing various information industry leaders due to speak at the Online Information 2008 Conference in Olympia in December. 

As Conference Chairman, there is no better person than Adrian Dale to kick off this series of podcasts, all led by Talis Technology Evangelist - Richard Wallis. 

Conference Chairman Adrian Dale Looks Forward to the 2008 Conference

The three day conference held at Olympia in London from 2 - 4 December will have a wide range of speakers of broad interest to all information professionals from all sectors - libraries, academia, government, and commerce.

Adrian describes how this year's programme builds on last year's conference and how the conference committee were impressed with the large number of case studies that were submitted for practical implementations of the subjects talked about a year earlier.   With those case study presentations supporting a quality list of informative, inspirational, and entertaining keynote speakers, the 2008 conference looks like being a high spot. 

New Approaches for Libraries - Jenny Levine in Conversation 

Internet Development Specialist and Strategy Guide for the American Library Association, and prolific blogger as The Shifted Librarian, Jenny Levine's views challenge librarians to look to the future and engage with new technology, the web, and gaming.

In this thoughtful conversation, Online Information Conference Key Speaker, Jenny explores the way libraries should be more open to experimentation, despite the concerns of spending other people's money to deliver a better service to those people.   Much can be learnt from the wider web about simplicity and planning for a changing environment.  

Jenny also throws out the challenge to those attending the conference for specific questions or topics they would like her to cover in her presentation to get in touch.

Clay Shirky in Conversation - Here Comes Everybody - the social effects of the Internet  

Online Information Conference 2008 opening keynote speaker Clay Shirky, joins Richard Wallis in conversation about the way the Internet has changed the way we interact.

Clay's latest book Here Comes Everybody identifies the way that the Internet and social software has enabled groups to interact and work together in ways that were never previously possible.  In this conversation we explore the themes that will form the basis of his presentation, and move on to issues such as the reversal of the information flow across corporate boundaries; the impacts upon academic publishing; and Clay's thoughts on the Semantic Web.

The economics of scarcity - JP Rangaswami talks ahead of Online Information 2008

"Have you ever met the customer that gained value from having region coding on a DVD?" - Just one of the thought provoking rhetorical questions JP Rangaswami poses in this Talking with Talis conversation with Richard Wallis.

JP is passionate about the way we have to change our thinking and actions around the practices and and controls placed on software and information.  If we don't get things right "we will repeatedly be wasting money digging out stuff that should have been made available much more cheaply because costs of transmission and reproduction are going down"

This is a great insight in to someone who proposes that Librarians should be evolving to become Livebrarians.  Understanding where JP is coming from will add great weight to the opinions he expresses in the Q&A Panel on the first day of the conference.

As well as being Managing Director of Design at BT, JP is closely involved with the School of Everything and publishes the thought provoking and entertaining Confused of Calcutta blog.

Stephen E. Arnold - A conversation with the closing keynote speaker

Stephen Arnold's career has lead him to be a prolific writer, speaker, and expert on web technologies and their application both inside the commercial enterprise and across the Internet.  He is best known for his work on search and his insights into the Google phenomenon.

Stephen talks about his career so far and the themes for his presentation, explaining how the technologies that we have seen emerging over the last few years are ready for use inside the enterprise as well as maturing into delivering services across the web.  He also explores how the componentised nature of these technologies and the applications they power, enables them to be moulded to satisfy the needs of their users.

The Online Information 2008 Conference series of Talking with Talis podcasts is a joint production by Talis and Online Information 2008.   Other Talking with Talis podcasts are available for listening from the Panlibus, Nodalities and Project Xiphos sites.

Richard Wallis - Interviewer 

Apart from the odd diversion in to the live music industry, Richard has thirty five year plus career in the computer information industry. The last eighteen of which has been with the UK's leading Library Technology Company, Talis.

His professional experience, coupled with his passion for, and involvement with, new and emerging technology trends, gives him a unique perspective of the issues challenging librarians, and Information professionals today. Richard was in at the birth of several major system developments, as architect, research and technical lead.

Now, as Technology Evangelist at Talis, he is at the forefront in promoting, explaining, and applying new and emerging web and semantic web technologies in the library and information domain. Richard is a well known speaker at conferences and events, providing entertaining and informative insights in to Web 2.0, the Semantic Web and their influence upon real world situations.  He is also an active blogger on Panlibus and a regular podcaster in the Talking with Talis series.  Richard is also the host of The Library 2.0 Gang, the monthly round-table conversation between leaders from from the world of libraries and the technologies that influence them.

You can contact Richard at richard.wallis@talis.com

Conference

The Online Information Conference is the world's no. 1 conference for the information industry.

Attracting over 900 delegates from over 40 countries, the conference provides a forum dedicated to learning, debate, professional development, technology reviews and assessments, expert discussion as well as case-study presentations and the sharing of research results and opinion. 

The 2008 programme will be announced in August.  Click here to view the 2008 topics.