WebSearch University Fall 2006 Speakers

Mary Ellen Bates
Principal, Bates Information Services, Inc.
Mary Ellen is the owner of Bates Information Services, providing strategic business research to business professionals and special librarians, and training and consulting services to the information industry. She is a prolific writer and speaker, having keynoted at conferences around the world and written six books and innumerable articles on the information industry. She is a regular columnist for ONLINE magazine. She received her MLS from the University of California, Berkeley, and worked in special libraries for over a decade before starting her own company in 1991. She publishes two free monthly e-newsletters (see www.BatesInfo.com) and she blogs at Librarian Of Fortune. She serves on the board of directors of SLA.

Tara Calishain
Founder and Editor, ResearchBuzz
Tara Calishain is the editor of ResearchBuzz, a columnist for Searcher, and the author of several Internet books, including Google Hacks.


Ran Hock
Principal, Online Strategies
Ran is the author of The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook, The Traveler's Web, The Extreme Searcher's Guide to Web Search Engines, and Yahoo! to the Max. He is also a frequent contributor and columnist for professional publications. Through his company, Online Strategies, Ran creates and presents courses on using the Web for professional associations, governments, NGO's, companies, schools, and businesses in the U.S. and abroad. Ran has held management and training positions with DIALOG and Knight-Ridder Information Services, and has been a reference librarian at MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently an adjunct faculty member for Catholic University's School of Library and Information Science, Lesley University's Technology in Education Program, and Johns Hopkins University. He is active in the American Society for Information Science and Technology and the Association of Independent Information Professionals.

Greg Notess
Reference Team Leader, Montana State University
Greg Notess, founder of SearchEngineShowdown.com and reference team leader at Montana State University library, is an award-winning author, consultant, and international conference speaker. He writes the "On the Net" and "Search Engine Update" columns for ONLINE, and his most recent book is Teaching Web Search Skills: Techniques and Strategies of Top Trainers.

Marydee Ojala
Editor, ONLINE Magazine
Marydee Ojala edits ONLINE: Exploring Technology & Resources for Information Professionals and writes its business research column ("The Dollar Sign"). She contributes feature articles and news stories to Information Today, Searcher, EContent, Computers in Libraries, Intranets, Cyber Skeptic's Guide to the Internet, Business Information Review, and Information Today's NewsBreaks. Her blog is ONLINEInsider.net. A long-time observer of the information industry, she speaks frequently at conferences, such as WebSearch University, Internet Librarian, Online Information (London, UK), Internet Librarian International, and national library meetings outside the U.S. She has adjunct faculty status at the School of Library and Information Science at IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis). Her professional career began at BankAmerica Corporation, San Francisco, directing a worldwide program of research and information services. She established her independent information research business in 1987. Her undergraduate degree is from Brown University and her MLS was earned at the University of Pittsburgh.

Gary Price
Co-Founder, INFODocket & FullTextReports
Gary Price was the Founder and editor of both ResourceShelf and DocuTicker, published by Free Pint, Ltd. Having left those publications, he is now co-founder of INFODocket and FullTextReports. He co-authored (with Chris Sherman) The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See, published by Information Today, Inc. Price lives in suburban Washington D.C. and earned a Masters of Library and Information Science from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Chris Sherman
Executive Editor, Search Engine Land
Chris Sherman is executive editor of Search Engine Land and president of Searchwise LLC, a Boulder CO-based web consulting firm. He is the author of Google Power: Unleash the Full Power of Google, published by McGraw-Hill. He co-authored (with Gary Price) The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See, published by Information Today, Inc. From 2001 through 2006, Chris was executive editor of SearchEngineWatch. Chris holds a master's degree in interactive educational technology from Stanford University and a B.A. in visual arts and communications from the University of California, San Diego.

Genie Tyburski
Manager of Library Services, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP
Genie Tyburski is Manager of Library Services at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. She is a professional researcher, who has worked in law libraries for more than 20 years. Prior to her recent promotion, she managed the Web site, The Virtual Chase, which provided information on legal, business and public records research strategies. She has written for trade journals and newsletters, including Law Office Computing, Law Practice Magazine and The CyberSkeptic's Guide to Internet Research. Genie speaks about Internet research issues at information industry and continuing legal education programs. She teaches distance education classes on database and Web research as well as public records research for University of North Carolina, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She received recognition as one of Library Journal's Movers and Shakers 2004 and was featured in the book, Law of the Super Searchers: The Online Secrets of Top Legal Researchers. She is editor of Introduction to Online Legal, Regulatory & Intellectual Property Research, which is a volume in the Business Research Solution Series by South-Western Education Publishing. Genie received her M.S. in Information Studies from Drexel University, and is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries and Special Libraries Association.