Lori Bowen Ayre, MLIS
Lori Bowen Ayre is a nationally recognized expert in automated materials handling, RFID and open source library system software. Since 2000, she has worked with a wide variety of city and county libraries and consortia in the areas of materials handling, delivery, workflow optimization, RFID, resource sharing, Internet filters, public access computing, and emerging technologies.
Her experience as a manager of people and technology provide her with an appreciation for the effect of change on people, and how to select and introduce technology to yield the best results. She believes libraries thrive when technology is leveraged to improve customer services, to streamline back office functions, and to reduce operating costs.
She has written pieces for ALA publications including Library Technology Reports (RFID, 2012 and Internet Filtering, 2004), the Whole Library Handbook 4 (ALA Editions, 2006), and Moving Materials: Physical Delivery in Libraries (ALA Editions, 2009, Valerie Horton, Ed.). She also wrote a chapter that appears in RFID-Applications, Security and Privacy (Addison Wesley, 2005). In addition to this site (http://galecia.com), she also maintains a website for comparing Internet filter products (http://libraryfiltering.org), and a website for looking up the features of Koha and Evergreen (http://features.galecia.com/).
Lori believes that libraries are critical institutions for our democratic society and that these institutions must change as society changes. Recognizing that technology is a catalyst of change, Lori's work is to help libraries harness the power of technology as they navigate the changing needs of our communities.
