Noted industry experts to judge federated search writing contest

As announced in Deep Web Technologies’ recent press release, six noted federated search experts will be serving as judges for the federated search writing contest. Predict the future of federated search and win $100, $250, or $500 in cash.

If you publish a blog related to federated search, information science, or to library science I’d very much appreciate a mention of our contest.

Entries are due August 1st.

Here are bios for each of the judges.

Marshall Breeding is the Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University. He is the Executive Director of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Breeding maintains lib-web-cats and Library Technology Guides Web sites. His Systems Librarian column appears monthly in Computers in Libraries published by Information Today. He is a Contributing Editor for Smart Libraries Newsletter published by ALA TechSource and has written six issues of Library Technology Reports. For the last seven years he has written the annual Automated System Marketplace feature for Library Journal. Breeding frequently gives presentations and workshops at library conferences on topics related to the library automation industry and technology trends.

Miriam Drake is Professor Emerita at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In addition to writing for Information Today and Searcher (www.infotoday.com and www.infotoday.com/searcher) she edited the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science and consults for government and industry. In 2001 Ms Drake retired as Dean and Director of Libraries and Information Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to going to Georgia Tech Ms. Drake served as Assistant Directors of the Libraries and Audio Visual Center at Purdue University. She spent 14 years in the private sector as a management consultant and transportation economist. Ms Drake is author of more than 100 journal articles and conference papers on management and the management of technology and knowledge and information systems. More.

Carl Grant is a librarian who has worked in libraries, or companies automating libraries, for over 30 years. He has worked for all of the major library automation firms in the business (including Ex Libris, Innovative and companies that are now part of SIRSI/Dynix), either as a Vice President or President. In 2007, Carl founded a company named CARE Affiliates, Inc., a company specializing in open source software for libraries and information centers and that provides consulting, selection, implementation, maintenance, support and development services around open source solutions, particularly in the areas of repositories and federated search.

Judy Luther is President of Informed Strategies. She has over 35 years’ experience as a manager and a provider of information services. She founded the consultancy to support the development and delivery of customer oriented electronic products and services. Judy’s insights and analyses enable publishers and information vendors to uncover opportunities and new ways to expand their business. Luther haver 10 years consulting for libraries, publishers, and vendors, 12 years’ experience in sales/marketing of products/services to the libraries, and 13 years’ experience managing staff and collections in academic libraries. More.

Peter Noerr’s background is in information retrieval, where his extensive design and development experience has culminated in the creation of successful information technology product lines. Dr. Noerr was educated in South Africa and the UK, completing a Doctorate in Information Science from The City University, London. He spent six years working for the British Library as Head of Systems Development. In 1980 he left the Library to co-found IME Ltd. Dr. Noerr designed and produced the Tinman/Information Navigator line of library automation software for the company, selling over 3,000 systems throughout the world by the time the company was sold in 1996. Since then, Dr. Noerr has consulted for a variety of organizations on information management and retrieval. Dr. Noerr has authored many articles and publications and is frequently invited to speak at international conferences. Dr. Noerr is co-founder of MuseGlobal, Inc. and chief architect of the Muse product line. Dr. Noerr currently serves as Chief Technology Officer of MuseGlobal, Inc.

Roy Tennant is Senior Program Officer for OCLC Programs and Research. He is the owner of the Web4Lib and XML4Lib electronic discussions, and the creator and editor of Current Cites, a current awareness newsletter published every month since 1990. His books include “Technology in Libraries: Essays in Honor of Anne Grodzins Lipow” (2008), “Managing the Digital Library” (2004), “XML in Libraries” (2002), “Practical HTML: A Self-Paced Tutorial” (1996), and “Crossing the Internet Threshold: An Instructional Handbook” (1993). Roy wrote a monthly column on digital libraries for Library Journal for a decade and has written numerous articles in other professional journals. In 2003, he received the American Library Association’s LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Excellence in Communication for Continuing Education.

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Tags: carl grant, federated search, judy luther, marshall breeding, miriam drake, peter noerr, roy tennant