NFAIS Announces Humanities Roundtable III: Database Producers in the Humanties

Philadelphia, PA, September 7, 2004 – NFAIS (www.nfais.org), the premier membership association for organizations that aggregate, organize and facilitate access to information, announced today the third in a series of seminars and discussions on issues critical to all information providers in the humanities. The seminar, Database Producers in the Humanities: Roundtable III, is jointly supported by The J. Paul Getty Trust, the American Theological Library Association (ATLA), and the RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. It will be held on Friday, October 15, 2004 at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, CA and, among other topics, it will focus on the issues of retrospective conversions, the use and management of vocabularies and thesauri, and the recruitment/retention of volunteer contributors. The meeting will also provide ample time for the open discussion of issues raised by participants in advance, plus optional social and networking activities following the close of the session.

“Content providers in the humanities, particularly database producers, have very unique needs,” said Bonnie Lawlor, NFAIS Executive Director. “The cost/revenue structure in the humanities is quite different from that of the sciences where there is strong industrial support. Digital conversions of existing products or the creation of new retrospective products require significant cost/benefit analyses and planning. Reliance on volunteer contributors is common, so that the recruitment and management of such a group is an ongoing concern. And issues related to the use, creation and maintenance of vocabularies and thesauri for information access and retrieval are central to product viability. This event is offered as a forum in which humanities content providers can discuss the challenges that they all face on a daily basis in the fulfillment of their organizations’ missions.”

Registration for the one-day session, including lunch, is only $50 thanks to the generosity of the meeting supporters. The program features speakers from prominent humanities-oriented providers, including The J. Paul Getty Trust, the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals at Columbia University, CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts), RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, and the Modern Language Association. The seminar is open to all those interested, and is not limited to NFAIS members. However, space is limited, so registrations should be made as soon as possible.

The full program and registration information is available on the NFAIS Web site at: http://www.nfais.org/events/event_details.cfm?id=28. A limited block of rooms has been reserved at the Holiday Inn Brentwood-Bel Air (170 N. Church Lane, Los Angeles, CA 90049, 310-476-6411 - mention the Getty Center to receive the meeting rate of $109), and a shuttle will be available from the hotel to the Getty Center.

Individuals interested in registering to attend this one-day event should contact Jill O’Neill, NFAIS Director of Planning & Communication, via email (jilloneill@nfais.org) or by voice at (215)-893-1561.
 

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