91´«Ã½

CHICAGO – Award-winning filmmaker, artist, internet pioneer and activist, Tiffany Shlain, will kick off the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL ) conference (March 30 – April 2 in Philadelphia) as the opening keynote speaker from 4 – 5:45 p.m. on March 30. ACRL 2011, “A Declaration of Interdependence,” is the premier professional development event dedicated to meeting the interests of academic and research librarians.

ACRL attendees will have a chance to view Shlain’s most recent film, “Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology,” described as a journey through the interconnectedness of humankind, nature, progress and morality at the dawn of the 21st century, at a screening from 1:30 -3:30 p.m. on March 30 before her keynote presentation. Shlain will sign her new educational kit, which includes a DVD copy of “Connected,” curriculum and discussion guides (which will be released for the first time at the conference) and conversation cards, following her keynote address.

Founder of The Webby Awards and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, Tiffany Shlain has received over 40 awards and distinctions during the course of her career. Her films have been selected at over 100 film festivals and have won 20 awards including Audience and Grand Jury Prizes. Shlain received the 2011 Women in Film/ National Geographic All Roads Film Grant for “Connected,” which screened as part of the documentary film competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Shlain is director of The Moxie Institute, an organization that creates films, discussion programs, theater experiences and internet experiments around social issues using emerging technologies. In 2010, she was invited to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to talk about how technology is changing the landscape in society.

ACRL is the largest division of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), representing more than 12,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at , Facebook at and Twitter at .

For more information on ACRL 2011, please visit the conference Web press kit at , or contact Jennifer Petersen, 91´«Ã½’s PR coordinator at 312-280-5043, jpetersen@ala.org.