Richard E. (Rick) Luce is Vice Provost and Director of Libraries for Emory University. In this role he manages the Robert W. Woodruff University Library -- including libraries in Business, Chemistry, the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Books Library (MARBL), and Music and Media -- and coordinates university-wide library policy for Health, Law, Theology, and Oxford College Libraries. His current initiatives include strengthening Emory's distinction in the areas of digital library information technology, and in developing special collections.

His most recent publication A New Value Equation Challenge: The Emergence of eResearch and Roles for Research Libraries was part of the Council on Library and Information Resources Report titled No Brief Candle: Reconceiving Research Libraries for the 21st Century. Luce is a faculty member of the Frye Leadership Institute, sponsored by Emory, the Council on Library and Information Resources, and EDUCAUSE. The Frye Leadership Institute is designed to develop the next generation of higher education leaders emerging from IT and library backgrounds.

Rick holds numerous advisory and consultative positions supporting digital library development and scholarly communication. He is a member of the National Academies Committee on Assuring the Integrity of Research Data in an Era of E-Science, and an executive board member of Coalition for Networked Information, and the Digital Library Federation.

Prior to joining Emory, Mr. Luce was the Research Library director at Los Alamos National Laboratory (1991-2006). Known as an information technology pioneer and organizational innovator, he managed a world-class scientific research library and forged regional, national and international collaborations. Rick was the recipient of the 2005 Fellows' Prize for Leadership at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the first ever awarded to a nonscientist.

Luce was the senior advisor to the Max Planck Society's Center for Information Management (2000-2006) and a past executive board member of the National Information Standards Organization. In 1999 he was a co-organizer of the Open Archives Initiative to develop interoperable standards for author self-archiving systems. In October 2003, with colleagues from the Max Planck Society, he co-organized the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, and in 2004, the Brazilian Declaration on Open Access. He was the course director of the International Spring School on the Digital Library and E-Publishing for Science and Technology in Geneva and a founding member and chair of the Alliance for Innovation in Science and Technology Information (AISTI).

Prior to Los Alamos, Luce held positions as the first executive director of the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN), director of Colorado's Irving Library Network, and assistant director of the Boulder Public Library in Colorado. He speaks extensively in the areas of digital libraries and scientific communication, quality and change management, and strategic planning. Luce holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of San Diego, a master's degree in public administration from San Diego State University and master's degree in library and information science from the University of South Florida.

Ellen Tise was the first president of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA), the national representative body of librarians and information workers in South Africa . She is currently Senior Director, Library and Information Services at the University of Stellenbosch , South Africa , and will serve as president of IFLA from 2009 through 2011.  She previously held the position of University Librarian at the University of the Western Cape , Bellville , South Africa , from March 2001 – December 2005. Prior to this, she was Deputy University Librarian (Client Services) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg . She also previously held the position of Systems Librarian and other positions at the University of the Western Cape , Brakpan City Library and the University of the Free State .

Ellen's experience at senior management levels in the profession includes serving on the Board of Directors  of  Sabinet Online from 2003–; Deputy Chair of the South African Library Leadership Programme Governing Committee 2001-2004; Member of the Advisory and Management Committee of the LIASA-Carnegie Centre for Information Career Development Project from 2005, OCLC Members Council Delegate, 2005-2008, and Member of the Access to Learning Award Advisory Committee 2007– Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has also served on various selection/review panels such as the National Council for Library and Information Services and the Centre for Book of the National Library of South Africa.

She is an Honorary Member of the Golden Key International Honour Society and received a LIASA Honorary Membership Award in 10th Anniversary Award for contributing to the establishment and building of LIASA and LIS in South Africa , in 2007.

Anthony W. Ferguson.  “Tony” has been the Librarian of the University of Hong Kong since 2001.  He is also the Chair of the Knowledge Team, an campus wide action group devoted to helping HKU make better informed decisions and develop better strategies for using ICT to enhance teaching and learning.  He has masters degrees in library science and political science (China focus).  He also has a Doctorate in Education from Columbia Teachers College . He was previously the Associate University Librarian at Columbia (1986-2001); the Assistant Library Director at Texas A&M University (1985-1986); and worked in collection development, the Asian Studies, and Social Sciences departments at Brigham Young University (1972-1985).  He has consulted widely on collection development topics and writes a regular column, Backtalk , in Against the Grain.

Peter Sidorko has 26 years of experience in academic libraries in Australia and Hong Kong . He is currently the Deputy University Librarian at the University of Hong Kong , a position he has held since 2001. In this role Peter is responsible for the full range of public services, technical services and technological developments for the entire University Library system which consists of one Main Library and six branch libraries, a staff of approximately 240 and a collection in excess of 2.5 million physical volumes as well as a rich and growing digital collection including 1.3 million e-books and over 40,000 electronic journals. Peter is also a part-time lecturer in the University of Hong Kong 's information science courses offered through the Faculty of Education and the University's continuing education school, HKU SPACE, with subjects focusing on information policy, management, leadership and strategic planning. Peter's interest in effective management and leadership in libraries led to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong 's Annual Library Leadership Institute, aimed at developing leadership qualities in Asian librarians, and now in its seventh year of operation. Peter was also a Faculty member of the Educause Australasian Leadership Institute between 2001 and 2003.