This exhibition & conference programme organised by the University of
Hertfordshire and held on its Hatfield Campus since 1985 will move to
London and be held alongside the Bookfair at Olympia next March.

Travel packages including a choice of student or hotel accommodation will
be available for visitors. And professional associations will be offered
the facilities for holding their own meetings at Olympia during the
exhibition.

For further details see the Press Release below and our Web pages.

Bill Forster
Learning & Information Services
University of Hertfordshire

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Tel: +44 1707-284681 Fax: +44 1707-284666 E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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Press Release, Friday 8 May

The University of Hertfordshire and one of Britain's largest exhibitions
company have reached an arrangement for taking the UK's most successful
exhibition of technology for libraries to London's finest exhibition centre.

Libtech International, created and managed by the university since 1985,
will now be managed by Reed Exhibition Companies UK and will run alongside
the London International Bookfair at Olympia in London on 28-30 March 1999.

As a result the event will not now take place at the university this September.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Professor Neil Buxton said this week: "We are
delighted that Libtech will be staged in London at an internationally
renowned exhibition venue. However our pleasure is tinged with some sadness
that this event has flown the nest after such a successful 13 years at our
main Hatfield campus."
 
"Nevertheless we are very pleased we will be taking the event,, together
with Reed, to one of Europe's most prestigious exhibition venues where there
will be much greater scope for expansion and development as we head into the
millennium."

Libtech International started as a training event for internal library staff
of what was then Hatfield Polytechnic and associated Herts college libraries
- it burgeoned in 1990 when it was decided to introduce meetings alongside
the exhibition for special interest groups of the library and information
professions.

VIPs who have launched the Hatfield Campus exhibition - usually in early
September - have included three Arts Ministers, as well as Britain's first
astronaut, the Director-General of the CBI, and the Chairman of the British
Library.

Centred upon the university's sizeable Prince Edward Hall and an adjacent
large, temporary exhibition hall, the event attracted exhibitors and
delegates from the UK and overseas.

Organiser Bill Forster, responsible for developing Libtech International
since shortly after it was established, welcomes this opportunity to develop
the event, which annually draws about 100 exhibitors and 2000 visitors.

He said: "The combination of the main exhibition in the UK of technology
for libraries and the increasing focus on electronic publishing in the
Bookfair will make the twin event an irresistible draw for librarians and
information managers."

Last September the university opened the largest Learning Resources Centre
in the UK with 1,600 student study places and 800 networked computers.

Di Martin, Director of Learning and Information Services at the university,
said: "The need for Libtech International has never been greater and I am
delighted that in future information professionals, librarians and managers
will be able to see the exciting technical developments to exploit
electronic information sources at London's finest exhibition centre."

Neil Wood, of Reed Exhibitions UK, said: "We have watched with interest the
growth of Libtech International and recognised its importance in providing a
yearly focal point for the British and overseas library profession. We also
saw it as a perfect partner for the London International Bookfair. By
presenting the two simultaneously we will aim to attract a wider spectrum of
delegates to Olympia during the event - there will be a tremendous range of
professionals attending."

The London International Bookfair is the most important Spring event in the
European publishing calendar, attracting more than 23,000 visitors and
exhibitors and media attendance of over 450 journalists from TV, radio,
newspapers and magazines.

                                                    ends


More information:

See 'Libtech on the Web' at: http://www.herets.ac.uk/Libtech/libtech.htm

Di Martin, University of Hertfordshire 01707 28466
Bill Forster, University of Hertfordshire 01707-284665
Mike Allsopp , Reed Exhibitions UK 0181 910 7885

Brian Emsley
PR Manager
External Relations
Tel: 01707 284022
Fax: 01707 286040
e-mail: [log in to unmask]








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