91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — Registration is available for the 2010 LITA National Forum "The Cloud and the Crowd," to be held Sept. 30- Oct. 3, 2010 at the Hilton Downtown, Atlanta, Ga. Visit to register.

Keynote Sessions anchor the event and include speakers Amy Bruckman, Roy Tennant and Ross Singer. On Friday Bruckman, of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Interactive Computing, will kick off the Forum with her talk "How Wikipedia Really Works, and What This Means for the Nature of 'Truth.'" She will explain the inner workings of Wikipedia, arguing that this it is not just a curiosity but a paradigm shift--one that challenges our basic understanding of the nature of "truth." Saturday, Tennant of OCLC Research will present "Using the Cloud to Please the Crowd." He will go beneath the hype to provide a high-level overview illustrated with specific examples about how libraries are using cloud computing technologies to better and more efficiently serve their users. Singer, of Talis Information, will close the Forum on Sunday with "The Linked Library Data Cloud: It's Time to Stop Thinking and Start Linking." The talk will examine the potential Linked Data holds for libraries.

More than 30 concurrent sessions and a dozen poster sessions will provide a wealth of practical information on a wide range of topics. Two preconference workshops will also be offered. Starting Thursday afternoon and concluding Friday morning, Jenny Emanuel of University of Illinois will present "Redesigning a Website Using Information Architecture Principles." The workshop will focus on strategies systems staff and public services librarians can utilize to inform each other about information architecture practices in order to create and maintain a library website. Topics discussed will include getting away from content designed by a committee and practical tools librarians can use to improve the architecture of websites. Also spanning Thursday afternoon and Friday morning will be "Virtualize IT: Laying the Foundation for the Library of the Future," presented by Maurice York of the North Carolina State University. The workshop will explore how to create a holistic virtualization strategy with a vision towards creating the library spaces and services of the future, including technology selection, cost, design, deployment and support.

Corporate sponsors of the LITA Forum help bring programming and networking opportunities to attendees. We gratefully acknowledge the support of OCLC, Ex Libris, Boopsie, Serials Solutions and Ristech.

Registration is limited to 500 in order to preserve the advantages of a small conference. Networking opportunities, one of the small conference advantages, are an important part of the Forum. Take advantage of the Friday evening reception and sponsor showcase, Saturday evening networking dinners and meals and breaks throughout the Forum to get to know LITA leaders, Forum speakers, sponsors and peers. For more information, visit .

Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) members are information technology professionals dedicated to educating, serving, and reaching out to the entire library and information community. LITA is a division of the 91´«Ã½.