CHERYL AVERY
Cheryl Avery has been an archivist since 1983, and has been with the University of Saskatchewan Archives since 1991, serving two terms as University Archivist.  She has been an active member of the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists since its inception.  Nationally, she has served on various committees of the Association of Canadian Archivists, and was elected to the Board of the Canadian Council of Archives, serving as vice-chair from 2000-2005.  She was co-chair of the Canadian Archival Information Network Steering Committee, which successfully oversaw the development and launch of Archives Canada: The Canadian Archival Information Network.

FALINE BOBIER
Faline Bobier is the Coordinator of the Visunet Canada Partners Program at CNIB Library in Toronto. The Partners program is a partnership between CNIB Library and over 600 public, academic, school and special libraries in Canada to improve access to alternative format materials for people with print disabilities.

DANIEL BOIVIN
Daniel Boivin has been the director of OCLC Canada since 1997. In his present role, he oversees the management of OCLC Canada.  Before joining OCLC, he worked for other producers of eContent and technology to libraries as well as 3 different academic libraries in Quebec and Ontario.

BETTY BRAAKSMA
Betty Braaksma is the Information Literacy Coordinator at the University of Manitoba Libraries and is the concurrent past President of both the Manitoba Library Association and the ACRL North Dakota-Manitoba Chapter. Betty has presented papers on the University of Manitoba’s information literacy program at NordInfoLit in Iceland, at the Continuing Education and Professional Development meeting, 71st World Library and Information Congress (IFLA) in Oslo and at the Academic Libraries Section session at the 72nd IFLA Congress in Seoul. She will be heading to Durban, South Africa this August to complete her IFLA hat trick.

RAE BRIDGMAN
Writer, artist and anthropologist Rae Bridgman was born in Toronto. She is the mother of six children, and has made Winnipeg her home. Rae received her Bachelor of Arts degree (Classics) and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto, and her Master's (Interdisciplinary Studies) and PhD (Anthropology) from York University. She holds the position of Professor in the Department of City Planning and Associate Dean (Research) in the University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture. Her writing spans children's fantasy novels and academic books. http://www.raebridgman.ca/

KENLYN COLLINS
Kenlyn Collins has been employed as Librarian at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for over eight years. She is responsible for the Library and Archives Information Unit at the Gallery. She obtained her library degree and professional training in the United Kingdom and has had many years experience working in special libraries in Europe.  

SHIREEN CUTHBERT
Shireen Cuthbert is Communications Officer for CBC Digital Archives. Prior to working at the CBC, she held several communications roles at voluntary organizations. Shireen is currently working on her MA in Strategic Communications.

ANITA DAHER
Since 1995, Anita Daher has written and published numerous articles and columns in local, regional and national Canadian publications. Her first book "Flight from Big Tangle" was published in September 2002 by Orca Book Publishers. Its sequel "Flight from Bear Canyon" was released September 2004. In 2007, she has three new books to launch: "Racing For diamonds", an Orca Young Reader; "Two Foot Punch", an Orca Sports novel for young adults; and "Spider's Song", a young adult psychological thriller to be published by Penguin. http://www.anitadaher.com/

DOUGLAS DAVEY
Douglas Davey is the Children's and Youth Advocate for the Halton Hills Public Library. He is a lifelong reader of books, in both print and graphic form. His experience with graphic novels includes reviewing for School Library Journal, being an active member of the Graphic Novels in LIBraries listserv, and presenting frequently on the topic of comics and graphic novels. He received his BA in Fine Art from the University of Guelph 1994, his BEd from the University of Western Ontario in 1995. and his MLIS from Western in 2000. He volunteers with Out On The Shelf, Guelph's Queer Library and Resource Centre. Douglas is married and lives in Guelph, with a two-year-old daughter named Beatrix and two cats named Winston and Harriet.

MARIE DeYOUNG
Marie DeYoung joined the Nova Scotia Community College in September 1998 as Director of Library Services and currently serves as the Copyright Officer. In the summer of 2002 Marie assumed responsibility for the Online Learning (formerly Virtual Campus) function of the College. Prior to that she was at the Nova Scotia Department of Justice as Information Management Administrator. Marie has degrees from Saint Francis Xavier University, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and Dalhousie University. She has presented special lectures to the Dalhousie Graduate School of Library and Information Studies and delivered programs at regional and national library conferences. In 1996 Marie was the recipient of the Award for Special Librarianship in Canada and was 1998 Association of Records Managers and Administrators Halifax Chapter Member of the Year. In 2003 Marie received the Dalhousie School of Library and Information Studies Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2005 received the Norman Horrocks Award for Library Leadership. Marie has been a member of the Canadian Library Association since 1976, served on the executive of CLA, CASLIS, CACUL, CTCL, and also served in executive positions for ARMA – Halifax Chapter and Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

JEAN DRYDEN
Jean Dryden's expertise in copyright has been developed over many years of experience as an archivist in the government, educational and not-for-profit sectors. As Chair of the Bureau of Canadian Archivists Copyright Committee, she played a lead role in successful lobbying for exceptions for libraries, archives and museums during the discussions leading to the 1997 amendments to the Copyright Act. Her business CopyRight! was established in 1998 to advise institutions, organizations, and individuals regarding current copyright matters and emerging copyright issues. She has advised a variety of institutions in the public and private sectors on copyright policy and practice, and is actively involved in developing training materials and delivering workshops to acquaint clients with copyright issues, particularly the application of copyright in the digital environment. She is the author of Demystifying Copyright: A researcher's guide to copyright in Canadian libraries and archives. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, investigating the impact of copyright in making archival material available on the Internet.

LUCIANA DURANTI
Luciana Duranti is Chair of the Master of Archival Studies at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies of the University of British Columbia, and a Professor of archival theory, diplomatics, and the management of digital records in both its master’s and doctoral archival programs. For her university work she was honoured in 1999 with the Faculty Association's Academic of the Year Award, and in 2005 with the Killam Research Prize. She is active nationally and internationally in several archival associations: she has been the President of the Society of American Archivists for the year 1998-99 and has chaired and participated in the work of several professional committees. She publishes widely on archival history and theory, and on diplomatics. Dr. Duranti’s research aims at finding solutions to digital records issues that are not specific to a given socio-cultural and juridical context but can be universally applied. She is the Director of the InterPARES Project. 

LORI GILES-SMITH

Lori Giles-Smith is the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Hospital Librarian at the Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library, University of Manitoba. Lori supports the work of HSC staff through her participation on hospital committees, and through literature searching, database training and other outreach activities. In addition to her work with the hospital staff, Lori is reponsible for building the consumer health collection and the nursing and allied health collections at the Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library. She contributes regularly to the health libraries' electronic newsletters Info-Rx and Info-Rn. Lori has served as the Manitoba Library Association's Secretary since 2005.

BARRY HILLMAN
Barry Hillman was employed at the Manitoba Museum from 1975-2003. He has worked on numerous exhibits including school education kits/exhibits, a railway car exhibit, temorary exhibits, large scale traveling exhibits and permanent museum gallery exhibits. During his time at the museum he worked as a coordinator of exhibits outreach, as the Coordinator of the Museum Advisory and Training Service and the Museum Conservation Service, and served for a number of years on the museum board. He has written many articles on heritage subjects and has created and taught numerous workshop sessions on exhibit design and production as well as all other aspects of operating a museum. He is presently working as a free-lance Arts, Culture and Heritage Consultant.

ALISON HITCHENS
Alison Hitchens has been the Cataloguing Librarian at the University of Waterloo since 2005. Previously she was the Cataloguing Manager for Library Services Centre in Kitchener and has catalogued for ISM Library Technical Services in Manitoba and the Resource Library for the Environment and the Law in Toronto. Alison has also taught the Subject Cataloguing and Classification course at Seneca College in Toronto. She has been following the development of the new cataloguing rules, Resource, Description and Access (RDA) and is currently co-writing a paper that outlines what the training needs of cataloguers will be once RDA is released. Alison received her MLS degree from the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, in 1996.

BONITA HUNTER-EASTWOOD
Bonita Hunter-Eastwood has worked in the heritage field since 1980 as a museum curator and project archivist as well as various research contracts with the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, heritage associations and private interests. She is the author of the children's book "A Magical Story of the Gimli Trolls" which was #1 on the McNally Robinson Bestsellers List in 1997, 1998 and 1999. She is currently the Director/Curator of the Historical Museum Association of St. James-Assiniboia.

KATHY KNOWLES
Kathy and her husband, John, travelled to Accra, Ghana, West Africa, with their children in 1989, after John accepted a position with a Canadian gold mining company. Observing that the Ghanaian children in their neighbourhood had no opportunities to read storybooks, Kathy started a weekly reading circle under a tree in her garden in 1990. Eventually, that simple story time grew to be the Osu Children’s Library Fund (OCLF), a non-profit organization that now gives support to 155 libraries in Africa.
 
In December 2006, Kathy Knowles' work with libraries was recognized in Ghana by the Council of the Ghana Library Association, which honoured her as an Honorary Fellow of the Ghana Library Association.

DARREN KUROPATWA
Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice and for "child safe" blogging practices. He has more than 20 years experience in both formal and informal education and 13 years experience in team building and leadership training. Darren has been facilitating workshops for educators in groups of 4 to 300 for the last 10 years. Darren's professional blog is called A Difference: http://adifference.blogspot.com.

ELIZABETH LANE LAWLEY
Elizabeth Lane Lawley is the director of the Lab for Social Computing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she is also an associate professor of Information Technology. Her current teaching and research interests focus on social computing technologies such as weblogs, wikis, virtual worlds, and collaborative information retrieval. She also conducts research and speaks on the topic of gender imbalances in technology and education. During the 2005-2006 academic year, Professor Lawley took a one-year sabbatical from RIT, during which she held a position as a Visiting Researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington.

MADELEINE LEFEBVRE
Madeleine Lefebvre has been University Librarian at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, since 1999. She holds Master’s degrees in Classics from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Alberta, where she also attained her MLS. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and an Associate of the Australian Library and Information Association. Madeleine was President of the Canadian Library Association for 2003-2004. She is very active in the International Federation of Library Associations and is on the Advisory Committee for the World Library and Information Congress 2008, which will be held in Quebec City. Madeleine is the 2006 recipient of the Atlantic Provinces Library Association Merit Award. She is the editor of The Romance of Libraries, published by Scarecrow Press in 2005.

MARK LEGGOTT
Mark Leggott is the University Librarian at the University of Prince Edward Island and an IBC (Islander By Choice). Before moving to the Island Mark was University Librarian and Associate Dean of Education at the University of Winnipeg, where a creative team of Library staff created leading innovative tools and services. Mark is a strong open source proponent, leading the development of projects like OpenILL and Martini. His newest development on the open source front is OSLS.CA, an initiative to provide services to educational institutions wishing to implement open source solutions. Mark is also an avid blogger having created LoomWare.ca and SlowLibrary.ca.

MARTIN LEVIN
Martin Levin is Books Editor for the Globe and Mail. Prior to this, his Fifth Column appeared regularly in the Facts and Arguments page of the newspaper. He is sports editor of the Canadian Global Almanac published annually by MacMillan of Canada as well as editor of its Canadian Hall of Fame section. He is a former columnist and book editor for the Financial Times of Canada, a contributor to Toronto Life, the Financial Post and other publications. He has been a book reviewer and baseball writer for the Toronto Star. He was founding editor of Innings, a baseball periodical, and of Seniors Today, Canada’s first weekly for adults over 55 years. He was a reviewer for the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal and has won several international awards for editorial writing.

TREVOR LOCKHART
Trevor Lockhart has worked for WPL for the last 16 years, and recently completed the MLIS degree through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s distance education program. He is currently the Branch Head Librarian at the Louis Riel Public Library in St. Vital.

JOE MCLELLAN

Joe McLellan is an author, educator, storyteller and Deacon in the Catholic Church currently assigned to the John Brebeuf community in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is a skilled facilitator and storyteller. As well as storytelling sessions, workshops, retreats and presentations for many and various Canadian and American schools, education conferences, private organizations, corporate businesses and Catholic and ecumenical organizations and communities, Joe has authored and co-authored several children's books. http://www.joemclellan.ca

ALLEN MILLS
Allen Mills is a professor in the Politics Dept., University of Winnipeg, and the author of numerous books about western Canada, including a biography of J.S. Woodsworth and a study of the Independent Labour Party of Manitoba.

ANNE NESBITT
Anne is the founder and Executive Director of the Manitoba Labyrinth Network and coordinator for the Carol Shields Memorial Labyrinth.  She is the only Canadian to have presented at The Labyrinth Society International Conference.  She made presentations in Massachusetts, 2005 and Minnesota, 2004.  She gives labyrinth walks and presentations to libraries, schools, Creative Retirement and community groups throughout Manitoba.

Anne developed and delivers the Labyrinth Facilitators Program for the Manitoba Labyrinth Network. She is author of the booklets: Energy of the Labyrinth, The Labyrinth and Tai Chi, Making Your Own Labyrinth - The Easy Way.  She has designed labyrinths for The City of Winnipeg, The Sanctuary Retreat Centre, St. Peter’s Anglican Church, The Manitoba Labyrinth Network and Fort Garry United Church.  She led the Labyrinth Retreat Week-ends at Riding Mountain National Park - 2003 & 2004.  She initiated the Labyrinth Peace Walks - 2003 across Canada, the U.S. and Britain.

LAURA PENNY
Laura Penny has recently completed her Ph.D in Comparative Literature. She also has a Master's in Theory and Criticism and a BA in Contemporary Studies and English. “Your Call is Important to Us” is her first book. She is working on her second book, on ignorance and anti-intellectualism in pop culture and political life. A frequent contributor to the Globe and Mail, she lives in Halifax, N.S. She has always depended on the kindness of librarians.

JOCELYN PHILLIPS

I am the Liaison Librarian for the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Guelph. I have a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario. I developed my interest and curiosity about ebooks through my Collection Development and Liaison reponsibilities. I look forward to sharing with you what I have learned about this growing industry.

BILL RICHARDSON
Bill Richardson is well-known and much-loved by CBC Radio audiences for his work as a host on both Radio One and Radio Two. In addition to his popularity as a broadcaster, Bill is a well-known columnist, writer and humorist. Bill has written a dozen books, including The Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast, which won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1994.

EMMA ROBIN
Emma Robin has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Winnipeg and a Library Technician diploma from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. She has worked in public, school and special libraries since 1992. She worked in the Children's Hospital Family Libraries from 2000 2003, and has since returned to the hospital in September 2006 as the Coordinator of the Libraries.

SHANNON SLATER
Shannon Slater is currently enrolled in the distance education Master of Library and information Management program at the Charles Sturt University in Australia. Shannon has worked for the Winnipeg Public Library in a variety of jobs since 1991.  Currently she works at the Reader Services desk in the Millennium Library where she enjoys comparing her theoretical lessons to the practical realities of working in a library.

LORAINE TRUDEAU
Loraine Trudeau is Head Librarian at the Jake Epp Public Library in Steinbach. The Jake Epp Library is the most used library per capita in the province of Manitoba.

LINDA WHITE
Linda White has over ten years experience as a Project Archivist and Archival Consultant and is responsible for developing plans to create The Winnipeg Art Gallery Archives and the Costume Museum of Canada Archives. She has also managed several on-line projects involving archival materials, including the creation of information web sites and on-line exhibitions.