dec07c.indd


Andy Bridges W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e  

Syracuse University’s R. David Lankes 
named as First “OITP Fellow” 
ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy 
(OITP) has named Syracuse University’s R. 
David Lankes as its first OITP Fellow through 
December 2008. With this position, Lankes will 
lead a collaborative research project with OITP 
on the evolving landscape of information tech­
nology and its implications for the education of 
the next generation of library and information 
science (LIS) professionals. 

Lankes’ primary work will be to enhance the 
office’s outreach to the scholarly and educational 
library and information science communities. 
While he will be working with the office on a 
wide range of issues, his primary focus will be 
on further developing the concept of participa­
tory librarianship first set out in the OITP tech­
nology brief Participatory Networks: The Library 
as Conversation (www.ala.org/oitp). 

“Libraries are in a great position to improve 
their services, and their positions with their 
communities,” said Lankes, associate professor 
at Syracuse University’s School of Information 
Studies and director of the Information Institute 
of Syracuse. “OITP is really a think tank within 
ALA, and it is important that it teams with schol­
ars as much as possible. I’m very happy to be 
part of that process. It is vital to the entire library 
and information science community that prac­
titioners and scholars engage in a continuous 
conversation on how best to serve patrons.” 

Lankes’ work on participatory librarianship 
has included presentations both domestically 
as well as in Australia, Italy, and Sweden. More 
information on participatory librarianship can be 
found at www.ptbed.org and on Lankes site at 
www.DavidLankes.org. 

Concerning OITP 
OITP was established in June 1995 to conduct 
research, analysis, education efforts, advocacy, 
and strategic outlook in support of ALA’s mis­

Andy Bridges is communications director at ALA’s 
Washington Offi  ce, e-mail: abridges@alawash.org 

sion and the library community. Here’s a brief 
overview of OITP’s activities. 

An important part of OITP’s work involves 
educating policymakers and other stakeholders. 
OITP has initiated many collaborative research 
projects to gather data necessary for the devel­
opment of national policies related to libraries 
and technology. Information on types of library 
connectivity and technology access to rural and 
poverty areas is critical to the implementation 
and evaluation of policies like universal service. 
OITP is also heavily involved with issues that 
are central to the academic and research library 
community, like copyright, public access to fed­
erally funded research, and digitization policy. 

OITP provides resources and consultation to 
library professionals to help them better under­
stand and communicate these issues. Through 
its outreach efforts, including the ALA Web site 
and publications like C&RL News, OITP is able 
to quickly disseminate information on key issues 
to support librarians in playing a leadership role 
in communities across the United States. 

OITP’s charge is as follows: OITP advances 
ALA’s public policy activities by helping secure 
information technology policies that support and 
encourage efforts of libraries to ensure access 
to electronic information resources as a means 
of upholding the public’s right to a free and 
open information society. It works to ensure 
a library voice in information policy debates 
and to promote full and equitable intellectual 
participation by the public by: 

•  conducting research and analysis aimed 
at understanding the implications of informa­
tion technology and policies for libraries and 
library users, 

•  educating the ALA community about the 
implications of information policy, law, and 
regulation for libraries and library users, 

•  advocating ALA’s information policy interests 
in nonlegislative government policy forums, and 

•  engaging in strategic outlook to antici­
pate technological change, particularly as it 
presents policy challenges to libraries and 
library users. 

C&RL News December 2007  752 

mailto:abridges@alawash.org
http:www.DavidLankes.org
http:www.ptbed.org
www.ala.org/oitp