Catbot Creator for Mentor Public Library Receives Award for his Work

David Newyear, the maker of , won an award and $1,000 prize for his work at Mentor Public Library.

The American Library Association gave Newyear the Polaris Innovation in Technology John Iliff Award for using technology as a tool to improve library services.

He was selected over other nominations from across the country.

Newyear created Emma, a chatbot, which is a computer program designed to imitate intelligent conversation. In this case, Newyear made Emma so she could answer the frequently asked questions that librarians receive.

Newyear has worked on Emma for the last 18 months, almost all of it in his free time. Newyear is the Adult Information Services Manager for Mentor Public Library. His work on Emma is financed by the Friends of the Mentor Public Library.

Because of Newyear's diligent work, Emma's repertoire has grown from answering a dozen or so FAQs to more than 70,000 questions.

Newyear patterned Emma's appearance and personality on that of a cat, so he refers to her as a catbot.

David Newyear announced on Emma's blog that, after talking with his wife Kristina, they would donate the $1,000 to One of a Kind Pets in Akron.

One of a Kind Pets is a rescue clinic that saves about 1,200 orphaned pets each year. In his brief statement, Newyear called it "a worthy cause."