Did you know?

• According to recent reports from comScore Networks, Inc. over 19 million Americans own a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and, of these, 5 million use their PDA to access the Internet.
• According to the Computer Industry Almanac, Wireless Internet usage is projected to grow to 27.9% of American Internet users and 41.5% of Internet users worldwide by 2004.

Source: Greenspan, Robyn. "Wireless surfer numbers grow". September 6th, 2002. Retrieved from: http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/wireless/article/0,,10094_1457671,00.html on February 3, 2003.

How well are academic libraries serving the needs of today's scholars?

• According to the recent OCLC White Paper on the Information Habits of College Students, search engines such as Google and commercial web portals such as MSN are the first resources students turn to meet their information needs.

Source: "How academic librarians can influence students' web-based information choices" OCLC White Paper on the Information Seeking Habits of College Students, June 2002. Retrieved from: http://www2.oclc.org/oclc/pdf/printondemand/informationhabits.pdf on February 3, 2003.

The Western New York / Ontario Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (WNY/O ACRL) invites you to a one-day conference that will explore the impact that new technologies, such as PDAs and handheld computing devices, and new interfaces, such as scholars portals, are having on academic libraries. Join us at the Buffalo Conference Center, located adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Buffalo's theater district, to hear about these exciting developments that are transforming academic libraries across North America.

As more and more of our patrons and staff members arrive at the library with their PDAs in hand, it is increasingly important for librarians to understand both the possibilities and the limits of this new technology. This presentation will review exactly what a PDA is, explain differences between the many available devices, define basic PDA terms, such as sync and beam, and look at the most common PDA applications, such as calendars and address books. We will then explore the wide variety of current PDA projects in academia, and specifically in academic libraries. We'll look at examples of PDA compatible Web content, PDA barcode attachments and inventory management, infrared connectivity systems, and even PDA interfaces for traditional database vendors, such as OVID and Westlaw. Finally, we'll consider the challenges this new technology presents for libraries, and what to look for in the near future.

Megan Fox is currently the Web & Electronic Resources Librarian for the Simmons College Libraries. She manages the Libraries' Web site and all contracts and negotiations for research databases. At Simmons, Megan also teaches graduate and continuing education courses for the Graduate School of Library & Information Science. Her specialties include online resources, searching the Web, and business information. Megan received her MA in Literature from Boston College in 1994 and her MLS in Library and Information Science from Simmons in 1998. She can be reached at fox@simmons.edu.

This session will give an overview of the work being undertaken cooperatively by academic libraries in Ontario to build a portal service for integrated access to electronic journals and A&I databases across the province. The session will look at the technology, the organizational framework, current success, and some longer-term goals of the project.

Alan Darnell is the Project Manager for the Scholarly Information Resources Project. He holds an MLS from the Faculty of Information Sciences at the University of Toronto and has worked in various system management roles at the University of Toronto Libraries and the University of Alberta Library.

The Scholars Portal Project is one of several initiatives to integrate portals into research libraries. An initiative of seven members of the Association of Research Libraries, the Project seeks to advance the concept of a collective research library presence on the web. The Scholars Portal is envisioned as a suite of Web-based services that will connect the higher education community as directly as possible with quality information resources that contribute to the teaching and learning process and that advance research. Functions includes in the Scholars Portal include discovery (search tools); capture (harvesting and delivery tools); manipulation (text-processing and citation-management tools); distribution (contribution and publication tools); and consultation (access to virtual reference services and electronic scholarly communities).

Other ARL member institutions are implementing portals with similar functionality. This presentation will provide an update on the current status of the Scholars Portal Project and summarize activities in other ARL libraries.

Mary E. Jackson is the Senior Program Officer for Access Services for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in Washington, DC. In that position she serves as Project Manager for the Scholars Portal Project and coordinates the AAU/ARL/NCC Japan Journal Access Project. Mary serves as Principal Investigator for the 2002 Assessing ILL/DD Services Study and coordinated the 1997 ARL Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Performance Measures Study.

Mary is an internationally recognized authority on interlibrary loan, document delivery, and resource sharing issues. She has written extensively on these topics; is regularly called upon as a consultant to libraries, consortia, and networks; and had given presentations and workshops in the U.S., Canada, and over 15 other countries. She is a member of IFLA's Governing Board and Professional Committee and chairs the IFLA Standing Committee on Document Delivery and Interlending. She serves on the Editorial Board of Interlending and Document Supply. Her major publications include Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing Products: An Overview of Current Features and Functionality, Measuring the Performance of Interlibrary Loan Operations in North American Research and College Libraries, and Uses of Document Delivery Services.

Prior to her affiliation with ARL, Mary managed the Interlibrary Loan Department and served in other positions at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mary was awarded a BA degree from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin and a MLS from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

• Megan Fox: PowerPoint Presentation and Web Site

• Alan Darnell: Coming Soon!

• Mary Jackson: PowerPoint Presentation

• Poster Sessions Announcement: Microsoft Word document