Advance registration is still open for the 2003 LITA National Forum, being held in Norfolk, Virginia, October 2 - 5, 2003. Advance registration ends September 19, 2003, and hotel reservations are due by September 15, 2003. We are close to filling our room block, so please reserve soon if you plan to attend.
"Putting Technology into Practice" is the theme for the three-day event. Three preconferences will focus on handheld services in libraries, using open source systems in libraries, and the future of the library as a physical place in the digital age.
Three keynote sessions are planned: R. David Lankes, Executive Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse and Assistant Professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, will present "Digital Reference: The First Mature Digital Library Service" on Friday, October 3; Liz Bishoff, Executive Director of the Colorado Digitization Program will present "Digital Dreaming, Digital Promise -- Getting Ready, Getting There" on Saturday, October 4; and David Seaman, Director of the Digital Library Federation will close the conference on Sunday, October 5, with "From Isolation to Integration: Major Trends in Digital Libraries."
Thirty concurrent sessions will cover such diverse topics as virtual reference consortia, digital library collection management, database-driven websites, metadata standards (including OAI), XML
databases, open source portal management, cross-database search projects, managing access to GIS repositories, usability studies, and more.
New to the Forum this year are poster sessions, presenting unique technology applications that solve specific problems, such as digital rights management in the academic environment, PDA use in health sciences libraries, and link maintenance and repair, among others.
A Sponsor Showcase to be held on Friday evening and all day Saturday will allow attendees to learn about exciting developments from a variety of companies. We gratefully acknowledge the support of all of our sponsors: Endeavor Information Systems, Ex Libris, Innovative Interfaces, Openly Informatics, Serials Solutions, Sirsi, Swets Blackwell, TDnet, TechBooks, and Veicon Technology. In addition to their Showcase participation, Endeavor Information Systems will sponsor the Friday evening reception and Innovative Interfaces has agreed to support connectivity for the email room. Veicon Technology has again agreed to provide email room equipment and terminals.
Registration is limited to 500 in order to retain the networking opportunities and other advantages of a small conference. An opening reception, generously supported by Endeavor Information Systems, will be held in the Grand Promenade of the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside, overlooking the picturesque Norfolk Harbor. An evening of informal dinners with LITA leaders and volunteers is planned for Saturday evening. Other networking opportunities include Saturday lunch, continental breakfasts and refreshment breaks.
For more information and to register, please visit http://www.lita.org/forum03.
------------------------------------------ Miriam Blake Library Without Walls Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library Voice: 505-665-5724 Fax: 505-665-6452 http://lib-www.lanl.gov/lww/welcome.html
