NFAIS Announces 2004 Conference Theme:
The Battle for Mindshare: Information Access and Retrieval in the Year 2010

Philadelphia, PA, July 7, 2003 -- NFAIS, the premier membership association for organizations that aggregate, organize and facilitate access to information, announced today the theme for its 2004 Annual Conference:  The Battle for Mindshare:  Information Access and Retrieval in the Year 2010.  The conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from February 22 - 24, 2004, and will focus on emerging trends in search behavior and expectations as a result of the widespread use of sophisticated search engines and autonomous agents to access and retrieve Web-based information.

"A new information mindset is being created" said NFAIS President-Elect, Linda Sacks. "We know, both from survey results and practical experience, that student use of traditional information sources such as libraries, printed reference books and scholarly journals, and abstracting and indexing services is on the decline, and that the web is their information resource of first choice.  This trend, combined with the current movement towards open access publishing on the Internet, has the potential to completely transform the information access and retrieval process in the very near future."

Sacks expressed concern that traditional information providers may find themselves obsolescent if they do not prepare now to capture a portion of this new mindshare.  She said that the objective of the conference is to identify the challenges and opportunities that will result from the future information environment that is being shaped by Google and similar search engines, and to clearly identify the issues that must be addressed in order to be successful in that environment.

"This issue transcends all boundaries - organizational, geographic and discipline-specific", said Sacks. "This forward-looking conference will highlight issues that will impact all segments of the Information Community -- academic, corporate, scientific, humanities, and government," continued Sacks.   She reported that the program will include actual case studies of searches performed using search engines and traditional resources as well as presentations on current information usage behavior in various market sectors.  Also included will be sessions on the needs and expectations of the new generation of information seekers with regard to content, data mining and analysis tools, and technology.  "Product innovation will be key to future success, Sacks continued, "and we plan to include demonstrations of innovative uses of content and technology throughout the conference. We also plan to allow sufficient time for discussion of the issues as well as for networking among the Information Community leaders who regularly attend NFAIS conferences.  This will be one of the key conferences to attend in 2004 for anyone concerned about the future of information access and retrieval."

For more information or to be added to the mailing list for updates on the 2004 NFAIS Annual conference, contact Jill O'Neill, Director of Communications and Planning (jilloneill@nfais.org or (215)-893-1561) or visit the NFAIS web site (http://www.nfais.org).

This program is being developed by the 2004 NFAIS Annual Conference Planning Committee.

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