Dear colleagues,
     
     please find the details of the symposium below - we hope it will be a 
     stimulating and even entertaining day. 
     
     If you would like to attend, or to have more details, please respond 
     not to me but to the RSA direct, contact details at the foot of the 
     message, 
     
     many thanks! ..... And apologies for any cross-posting of this 
     message. 
     
     The RSA's Historical Symposium
     
     Friday 19 November 1999
     
     'Come and take choice of all my library' -- Accessing Heritage 
     Collections in the Digital Age: the impact of new information 
     technologies on libraries, archives and museums
     
     9.25-9.30          Welcome and introduction  
     Susan Bennett, RSA Curator
     
     9.30-10.00         Beyond the Barriers: access and
     scholarship in the digital age
     Dr Richard Hesletine, BA, DPhil, DipLib, ALA Director of Academic 
     Services, University of Hull
     
     10.00-10.40        Digital Futures: IT development at Hackney 
     Archives Department, David Mander, Hackney Borough Archivist
     
     10.40-11.00        Coffee
     
     11.00-11.30        Birmingham's Digital History Project:
     a specific example of the use of the HA2000 software, Richard Albutt
     Community History Development Librarian, Birmingham Central Library
     
     11.30-12.00        Strategies for sustainable innovative services
     Daniel Greenstein, Director, Arts and Humanities Data Service
     
     12.00-12.30        In search of the hybrid librarian
     Graham Jefcoate, Head, Early Printed Collections, The British Library
     
     12.30-12.50        Questions
     
     12.50-2.00         Lunch 
     
     2.00-2.45          AD2001 at the Public Record Office
     Meg Sweet, PROCAT Manager, Public Record Office
     
     2.45-3.30          The RSA Archive Project
     Christopher Denvir, MA, RSA Project Archivist
     
     3.30-3.45                  TEA
     
     3.45-4.30          A virtual Linnean catalogue, Dr Ray Lester
     Head of Library & Information Services, Natural History Museum, London
     
     4.30-5.15          The British Museum COMPASS project
     George Mallen and Mike Stapleton,
     Systems Simulation Ltd
     David Jillings, British Museum 
     Ian Henghes, Diverse Interactive
     
     5.15-5.45          Questions
     
     5.45pm             End of Symposium
     
     Notes on speakers:
     
     Dr Richard Hesletine is Director of Academic Services, University of 
     Hull where he has worked since 1992.  He is also co-Director of the UK 
     Resource Discovery Network Centre.  The evolution of the digital 
     library, coupled with the development of high-speed digital 
     communications has already changed the way we work in many spheres of 
     life, including learning and research.  In his keynote address Dr 
     Heseltine will review the development of the digital library in the 
     past few years and look forward to its integration into broader 
     electronic learning and working environments.
     
     David Mander has served as Hackney's Borough Archivist since 1983.  He 
     is also Chairman of the Greater London Archives Network and Vice-Chair 
     of the London Archives User Forum.  David Mander will talk about the 
     creation and development of HA20000 products, as well as the use of 
     ADLIB software, the internet, and future developments in preparation
     
     Richard Albutt is Community History Development Librarian for 
     Birmingham Central Library.  He is responsible for promotion of the 
     Archives, Local Studies and History collections, developing new ways 
     to make them accessible and encouraging continued donations to these 
     collections.
     
     Daniel Greenstein is Director of the AHDS Executive based at Kings 
     College.  He will be looking at strategic approaches to the 
     development and financial sustainability of innovative information 
     services which serve libraries, museums and archives.
     
     Graham Jefcoate is currently Head of Early Printed Collections at the 
     British Library.  Although he has a background in rare books, his 
     previous posts at the British Library have involved developing on-line 
     catalogues, setting up the BL web site and managing the digital 
     library programme at the Research and Innovation Centre.
     
     Meg Sweet is PROCAT Manager at the PRO, with overall responsibility 
     for the physical design, build and editorial content of the new 
     integrated hierarchical catalogue, PROCAT, which is to be available on 
     the Web from the year 2001.  Her talk will focus on the various 
     building blocks that contributed to this development.
     
     Christopher Denvir, RSA Project Archivist, will be explaining the 
     development of a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund to 
     create an accessible catalogue of the Society's holdings.  Progress to 
     date will be illustrated by a demonstration of the CALM 2000 software 
     designed specially for archive cataloguing, which will be searchable 
     via the internet
     
     Dr Ray Lester was Director of Information Systems at the London 
     Business School before his appointment at the Natural History Museum 
     in 1996. He currently has overall responsibility for the museum's IT 
     and publishing services, as well as the world's largest collection of 
     library and archive resources relating to natural history.  The 
     eighteenth-century naturalist-physician Carl Linneaus devised a system 
     of nomenclature and classification which covered all the species of 
     plants and animals then known in the western world.   Dr Lester will 
     describe the progress of an international project aimed at creating a 
     comprehensive virtual catalogue of Linnean resources available 
     worldwide.
     
     George Mallen and Mike Stapleton, Systems Simulation Ltd, David 
     Jillings, British Museum and Ian Henghes, Diverse Interactive will 
     present overviews of the system architecture and technology strategy 
     underpinning the development of the COMPASS project.  By the use of 
     demonstrations and illustrations of the emerging interaction design 
     and developing content, the presentation will illustrate some of the 
     challenges currently exercising the heritage sector in designing 
     innovative access to rich content.                 
     
     Registration fee and lunch: £45 (includes VAT) 
     
     Please return completed form together with your cheque made payable to 
     RSA No.1 Account, to Susan Bennett,  Curator, RSA, 8 John Adam Street, 
     London WC2N 6EZ (Tel: 0171 930 5115 or email: 
     [log in to unmask])
     
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