On April 9, Clifford Lynch, a leading authority on current and future trends in the use of information technology, was the guest speaker at an event sponsored by the UO Libraries and Information Services. Lynch is director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), an organization of about 200 institutional members promoting the use of IT and networked information to enhance scholarship and intellectual productivity.

• What are the major trends in academic research and what impact are they
  having on the demand for IT?
• Are there trends outside of academe that might ultimately have an impact on research and higher education?
• How can libraries position themselves to support emerging research?
• How are academic institutions aligning their resources to support the increase
  in demand for IT services and support?
• What support roles seem most appropriate for the academic institution as opposed to individual
  disciplines or other agencies?
• What impact is e-research having on teaching and what new opportunities are emerging?
• What trends are as yet unrecognized and how might they eventually impact research in the academy?

Prior to joining CNI, he spent 18 years at the University of California Office of the President, the last 10 as director of library automation. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, and is an adjunct professor at Berkeley’s School of Information. Lynch is a past president of the American Society for Information Science and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Information Standards Organization.

For more information about CNI, see http://www.cni.org/.