An overview of the 2020 NISO plus inaugural annual conference: A grand experiment

Abstract

This paper offers an overview of the highlights of the 2020 NISO Plus inaugural conference that was held in Baltimore, MD from February 23–February 25, 2020. This conference replaced what would have been the 62nd Annual NFAIS conference. However, NISO and NFAIS merged in June 2019, resulting in the conference being renamed NISO Plus and taking on a new format. The goal was to continue some of the best traditions of past NFAIS conferences while building in time for discussions. With two and a half days of networking and education on tap, attendees had the opportunity to learn about emerging and exciting areas of change and development such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and new content types such as Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality. There were very practical sessions that focused on the status of standards, current issues and problems, with the goal of working towards innovative solutions and developing plans for moving forward.