**Apologies for cross-posting**
PRESS RELEASE 15/10/1998
EARL, the Consortium for Public Library Networking
EARL announces autumn/winter programme of events
EARL, the Consortium for Public Library Networking, is pleased to announce
its programme of events for the coming season.
As the details of New Library implementation plans are made known, a range
of EARL workshops, seminars and discussion forums will provide practical
support for public library staff. These will be complemented by a number
of new EARL services, the first of which are announced today.
CONTENT WORKSHOPS: these are aimed at public library staff working on
day-to-day service delivery and development. Each half-day session will
explore new ways of thinking to develop electronic content and information
services for the New Public Library. The first of the series will take
place on 19th October and be repeated at several other UK venues. The
series will end with a major workshop in March 1999 on ICT and electronic
collection management.
DISCUSSION FORUMS: between December 1998 and March 1999 a series of
discussion forums will be held by the EARL Networked Services Policy Task
Group to look at strategic and policy issues surrounding access to
networked services, such as charging, quality on the web and equal access.
These are intended for service managers who will be responsible for their
Authority's policy on the implementation of New Library. A series of
ISSUES PAPERS to support the forums is in preparation, with the first - on
filtering - to be published later this month.
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE BRIEFINGS: this is an occasional series of
half-day briefing sessions on different types of public library electronic
information services, both commercial and otherwise. The intention is to
promote knowledge and understanding of what is available and to disseminate
best practice. The first two of these briefings will look at the OCLC
FirstSearch service, and the CLOVER indexes on-line.
Further details, and an outline calendar of events are available from Helen
Baigent, EARL Liaison Officer ([log in to unmask] or tel: 0171 702 2020) and
are on the EARL website (http://www.earl.org.uk/)
EARL, the Consortium for Public Library Networking, was established in 1995
to develop the role of public libraries in providing library and
information services over the network. It now has 164 partners in local
authorities, associate partners in government, the library profession,
higher education, and the commercial sector including the Library
Association, the British Library, the UK Office for Library and Information
Networking, the Department for Education and Employment, and the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport.
Through collaboration, EARL aims to demonstrate and extend the ability of
public libraries to deliver networked information and knowledge-based
services. These are demonstrated on the EARL web site.
(http://www.earl.org.uk/)
Notes to Editors:
For more details about the EARL Consortium, contact Helen Baigent, Liaison
Officer, at the EARL office, e-mail [log in to unmask] or telephone 0171 702
2020.
--
Chris Moore
EARL Information Officer
Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: (0171) 702 2020
Fax: (0171) 702 2019
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|