The 2nd International Conference on Innovation Driven Librarianship (ICIDL) took place June 11-13 at SRM University in India. Dr. Kathy Burnett, Director of the School of Information and F. William Summers Professor, delivered the keynote address.

The conference was organized by the Central Library at SRM University, in association with the Korea Society for Information Management and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information. SRM University is one of the top ranking universities in India. SRM is home to over 38,000 students and more than 2,600 faculty, offering programs in engineering, medicine, technology, and more.

Burnett’s talk, Ungluing Our Eyes from the Rear View Mirror: Preparing Innovation Engineers for Careers in 21st Century Libraries, drew upon her experiences as director of the School of Information. Burnett talked about the future for libraries and information professionals – libraries are becoming community collaboration centers managed by innovative information professionals.

The School of Information has focused on 21st century opportunities that prepare students for innovative careers. The efforts are paying off, General Motors has recruited more than 90 students from the School of Information’s Information Technology and Information Communication Technology programs in recent years. The School has committed to advancing digital fluency, entrepreneurship and collaboration – ideals cemented with the creation of The Collaboratory and the IDEA Learning Community. The Collaboratory, an integrated learning space, affords students an environment with 21 century technology to springboard their ideas from imagination to reality. The IDEA Learning Community will debut in Fall 2015, giving motivated graduate students an opportunity to pursue their interests through a hands-on curriculum.

During the conference a new organization was established. LISSASPAC (Library and Information Science Society for Asia and the Pacific) was formed with Dr. Gary Burnett named as a vice president. Dr. Gary Burnett also gave a plenary speech at the conference.

The Burnetts met with people from all over Asia, including Taiwan, China, Nepal, India, Singapore, Iran, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Bangladesh. Many invited the Burnetts to visit their campuses and engage in research. They were able to visit the Department of Information Science and Library Management at the University of Dhaka, in Bangladesh and meet the university’s vice chancellor.