Lorcan Dempsey, Professor of Practice and Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, Information School, University of Washington.
Lorcan Dempsey is a librarian, writer and
adviser who has worked for library, non-profit and educational organizations in Ireland, the UK and the US. He has enjoyed being able to work in international contexts, and has welcomed the opportunity to visit and work with libraries around the world.
Since he began his library career in public libraries in Dublin, Ireland, he has had a special interest in the library as institution, in the entwined evolution of the library and the network environment, and in library collaboration. Lorcan seeks to promote an inclusive approach, among teams, and in work products, and he has a special interest in identity, diaspora, and representation.
He has overseen national higher/further educational library and informational programs for Jisc in the UK and has worked at a senior level for OCLC which provides shared services to libraries in many countries. In these roles he has worked on governance, library collaboration, new service development, and shared infrastructure.
He has directed two leading library R&D units (UKOLN, at the University of Bath, now no more, and OCLC Research). He is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with many talented colleagues on important library questions.
His contribution has been recognized with an honorary doctorate from the Open University (UK), for work on the evolving digital environment, the IFLA Medal, for his contributions to international librarianship, and the Miles Conrad Award, for his contributions to library and knowledge industries. He has also been honored by the American Library Association and the Irish Library Association for his contributions individually and with colleagues.