Eric G. Ferrin

With more than 38 years of experience in computing and information technologies, Eric Ferrin is currently the Senior Director of Digital Library Technologies, a unit of Information Technology Services at The Pennsylvania State University, a position he has held for over 15 years. At Penn State, Ferrin has been the co creator and chief architect of LIAS, the University's integrated library automation system. In addition to working at Penn State University, Ferrin has worked as a hardware engineer designing microprocessor-based systems in the early evolution of the personal computer and later worked as a systems programmer for Sperry Univac in their Communications and Terminals Division. A 1970 graduate of Brigham Young University, Ferrin earned a BES EE degree in the five year professional engineering program in electrical engineering. Ferrin is actively involved in standards affecting information retrieval and library inter communication. He has been an active member of the Z39.50 Implementation Group (ZIG) since its inception in 1990. He is a member of the Inter-Library Loan Protocol Implementation Group (IPIG) developing a North American profile for the implementation of the ISO inter-library loan protocol. Ferrin is also actively involved with the CIC universities, initially in the development of the Virtual Electronic Library as well as other national projects developing the “Digital Library” of the future.