An overview of the NFAIS 2014 Annual Conference – Giving Voice to Content: Re-Envisioning the Business of Information

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the highlights of the 2014 NFAIS Annual Conference, Giving Voice to Content: Re-Envisioning the Business of Information, that was held in Philadelphia, PA, on February 23–25, 2014. The goal of the conference was to take a look at the opportunities offered by current Big Data technologies (metrics, analytics, data mining, visualization, linking, etc.) and challenge content providers and librarians to attempt to free themselves from the constraints and biases of the past and re-envision what their products, services, and business models would look like if these technologies were fully utilized. Audience response devices were used throughout the meeting to gauge the opinions and perceptions of the attendees and these are also discussed where relevant.