Hi everybody, I was poised to send out this announcement in early June, before the RLG membership had voted on the proposed combination with OCLC. Alas, the defunct MCN listserv prevented me from doing so. In the meantime, the vote has affirmed that RLG will continue its work with and on behalf of libraries, archives and museums as a new division of OCLC, and July 1st marked the day of the transition into the new configuration. Like all of our other ongoing work (such as the Museum Collections Sharing Working Group, for example - see http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=335), this forum will go forward as planned, and I hope that we'll get a good turn-out from our museum members (who will now have to get used to being called "RLG-Programs Partners" going forward). The deadline for RSVP is July 21st, and there's no time like the present to sign up! We have some wonderful speakers lined up, including Ken Hamma and Erin Coburn from the Getty, Richard Cherry from the Guggenheim, and Carol Butler from the American Museum of Natural History. All other info below!
Cheers, G?nter *** Dear RLG Members: Mark your calendars! Staff at RLG member institutions are invited to the 4th Annual RLG Member Forum, "More, Better, Faster, Cheaper: the economics of descriptive practice." This two-day event will feature speakers from libraries, museums, and archives, all willing to share their ideas, perspectives, and experience on how to make smart decisions that will make collections more accessible for users. The forum will be hosted by the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, and will be held on August 7-8, 2006. (For a sneak preview of the beautiful site for the event (the Elizabethan Theatre), see http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=481 and follow the links to the virtual tour.) Now open for registration! A core mission, of libraries, archives, and museums is to serve researchers and visitors with access to collections. But most cultural heritage institutions have valuable materials that are unprocessed, insufficiently described, or otherwise effectively hidden from scholars and the public at large. Institutions face increasing pressures to make such material more broadly discoverable and available ... while at the same time ensuring that description is done wisely, scalably, and economically. How does one develop practical, effective descriptive practices that consider audience, economy, and functionality, and strike the right balance between the three? This forum will put a spotlight on libraries, archives, and museums that have led the way in streamlining descriptive processes, creating processing efficiencies, and surfacing collections for use. Presenters will offer practical advice, tools, and techniques for reducing backlogs, bringing hidden collections to light, and getting more for less. For more details, a link to registration page, etc. please see the web page at: http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20862 Not sure if you are at an RLG member institution? Check here! http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=382 G?nter *** G?nter Waibel RLG-Programs, OCLC 2029 Stierlin Court, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA voice: +1-650-691-2304 | fax: +1-650-964-1461 blog: www.hangingtogether.org Guenter.Waibel at rlg.org
