ALCTS Network News v6n14 (November 30, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/ann/ann-v6n14 ISSN: 1056-6694 ALCTS NETWORK NEWS An electronic publication of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Volume 6, Number 14 November 30, 1993 In this issue FACT SHEET ON ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE EIGHT RLG INSTITUTIONS BEGIN WORK ON INNOVATIVE DIGITAL IMAGE ACCESS PROJECT DDC WORKBOOK FOR SMALL LIBRARIES ************************************************************************** FACT SHEET ON ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE ALA has issued the following fact sheet to answer common questions about the 1994 Annual Conference to be held in Miami Beach. For more information contact Paul Graller, Conference Services, 800-545-2433 ext. 3219. Can the site of the 1994 Annual Conference be changed? No, for four basic reasons. 1. Cost. The current value of cancellation clauses in contracts which ALA has signed is almost $500,000. This could not be made up through increased revenues at another site. ALA has already increased registration fees $5. We committed to not increasing exhibit rates since there were increases in each of the last three years. Thus, revenue would have to be made up through more exhibits and more attendees. $500,000 equals either 307 booths, a 23% increase over San Francisco (a record), or 5,555 registrants, a 45% increase over San Francisco (a record). 2. Availability of facilities in other cities. The World Cup Soccer Tournament is currently scheduled for June 15-July 15, 1994 in many cities around the country (Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles, Boston, Orlando, New York/NewJersey, and Washington, D.C.). Las Vegas does not have our dates available through 2005. We could not return to New Orleans again, and Atlanta is booked. There is no site that could meet our exhibit space, sleeping and meeting room needs. 3. Timing. The plans for the 1994 Conference are well underway, including work of the local committee, development of the exhibits prospectus, and meeting room scheduling. 4. Reputation. The ALA has a strong and positive reputation in the trade show industry for having carefully planned and well managed conferences. Miami Beach is a different type of site. With its international atmosphere, diverse cultural influences and beach front resorts, it provides ALA attendees a break from the usual downtown conference experience. Art Deco South Beach offers a great selection of restaurants, night life, and a view of the "happening" high fashion scene. The Miami-Dade Public Library, built in 1985 is itself a cultural centerpiece, sharing a plaza with the Historical Museum of South Florida and the Center for Fine Arts. What problems did American Booksellers face during their convention and what is ALA Planning to do about these problems? ALA Conference Services attended ABA to see, first hand, how Miami services a major trade show. Many of the complaints from that show were noted and addressed during a site visit September 7-10. ALA staff met with the mayor of Miami Beach, leaders of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the general managers and sales and service managers of over 35 hotels. 1. Quality of hotels. During previous visits, staff had looked at the larger "chain" properties which have never been questionable. During the recent site visit, ALA staff inspected 18 hotel properties which were considered borderline. Of these 18 properties, half were undergoing major renovations. These hotels have committed to be complete by December, the start of the tourist season. ALA will protect itself in its contracts with these properties and, if necessary, exclude them from the block. Some properties were considered unacceptable and will not be used. The hotels have recognized the level of service they provided during ABA was not up to the quality we expect. Both the Mayor's Office and Convention Bureau in conjunction with the hotels have begun programs to improve service. 2. Housing bureau. ALA has hired a private agency, Travel Technology Group (TTG), to act as its official housing bureau for the 1994 Annual Conference and beyond. TTG specializes in convention travel and has produced many trade shows in Miami. They meet on annually with the hotels in Miami. Both the hotels and convention bureau support ALA's decision to use TTG. 3. Labor at the Convention Center. There are many differences between ABA's and ALA's exhibits. ABA is larger, with 2,200 booths compared to ALA's 1,350. ABA also has more constructed displays which require more skilled labor. This should not be a problem for ALA. During the Annual Conference in New Orleans, Andrews-Bartlett Exposition Services (ABES), ALA's official contractor, met with many exhibitors to discuss their experiences during ABA (ABES does not produce the ABA). They already plan to use more supervisors for labor crews and will bring the customer services staff and supervisors who have worked the past four ALA exhibits. 4. Transportation within the city. We know that more shuttle service is needed than ABA utilized. ALA always does more. To improve travel times and frequency, we will do two things. First, ALA will utilize meeting and hotel properties in common areas, creating hubs for meetings. These will be the Fountainebleu Hotel, Miami Beach Convention Center, Biscayne Bay Marriott/Omni, and the Hyatt/University of Miami/Miami Convention Center (One property, jointly owned with access through the Hyatt.) This will eliminate scheduling meetings in less convenient properties. Second, two shuttle systems will be established. One will service hotels with sleeping rooms. The second system, "Meeting Express," will service meeting facilities exclusively. This method was used in Chicago in 1990 and was successful. ALA is negotiating with SuperShuttle to provide discounts to ALA attendees and exhibitors for transportation to and from the airport. In addition SuperShuttle will set up a desk in the convention center. The hotels, convention center, mayor and convention bureau know the importance of ALA's success. It impacts the future potential of their convention and tourism business. What about the meeting space and attendee traffic at the Convention Center? All of the exhibits will be at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Although the Miami Convention Center will be utilized for some meetings it will not detract from traffic in the exhibits. ALA routinely uses approximately 10-12 properties other than the main convention center to hold its extensive meeting schedule. The Miami Beach Convention Center will house the ALA offices, placement center, council sessions, membership meetings, president's program, and most large programs. The exhibit floor will also have a restaurant, the post office and Internet room. What about crime? Exclusive of the recent tourist incidents, Miami is like any other major city. And the Beach is known to be safer. Crime statistics prepared by the New York Police Department do not even rank Miami among the 20 worst cities in the US. But other cities which ALA enjoys are ranked (San Antonio, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles). The bureau will provide safety tips in addition to the information that ALA always provides. ALA will run shuttle service late into the evening as usual to service the Newbery-Caldecott awards banquet, president's party and membership meetings. What about the weather? The ABA experienced a weekend of rain. It is hot in Miami in late June but there is an ocean breeze. Except for San Francisco, all other cities which can accommodate our conference are hot in June. ************************************************************************* EIGHT RLG INSTITUTIONS BEGIN WORK ON INNOVATIVE DIGITAL IMAGE ACCESS PROJECT The Research Libraries Group (RLG) has launched a one-year collaborative project to explore the capabilities of digital image technology for managing access to photographic collections. Eight RLG institutions will work together to find ways to streamline indexing methods and capitalize on the online digital environment for improving access to collections, not just for local projects but for shared access in a networked environment. In total, 8,000 photographs from the collections of these RLG members will be digitized, and image access software will be created. Working with Stokes Imaging Services (Austin, TX), the RLG cooperative project will employ state-of-the-art digital-imaging technology to enable institutions to reproduce images quickly and inexpensively at resolutions adequate for browsing, researching, and printing reference copies. The project will develop, test, and evaluate a digital image access system consisting of databases, image bases, and software for searching, retrieving, and displaying images. A second parallel project was designed by the RLG Task Force on Photographic Preservation, a six-member group formed in July 1992 to address issues inherent in accessing and preserving large photograph collections. This second project, in partnership with Stokes Imaging Services and the Image Permanence Institute, explores relative cost-benefit tradeoffs in the technical aspects of digitization, including image capture, resolution, compression, storgae, and display. For more information about either project, contact Patricia McClung, RLG Director of Member Support Services, at 415-691-2236, e-mail bl.pam@rlg.stanford.edu, fax 415-964-0943. ************************************************************************* DDC WORKBOOK FOR SMALL LIBRARIES OCLC Forest Press, publisher of the Dewey Decimal Classification, has released a new Dewey workbook designed for classifiers and students working with the latest abridged version of Dewey (Edition 12, 1990). _The Classification Workbook for Small Libraries Usinq the Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification (Edition 12)_, by Sydney W. Davis, follows the lesson plan initiated by the author in his earlier workbook on unabridged DDC 20. It explains in simple language how to make the most efficient use of the classification, including how to build numbers. Exercises and answers offer a hands-on approach to classifying with the 12th edition of the abridged DDC. The workbook assumes no previous knowledge of the subject and can be used for self-instruction or in a classroom. The workbook is published by OCLC Forest Press, Albany, N.Y. The 58-page paperback (ISBN 0-910608-48-2) costs $17. To order, write to OCLC Forest Press, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017. ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* ALCTS NETWORK NEWS (ISSN 1056-6694) is published irregularly by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association. Editorial offices: ALCTS, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; Jennifer Younger, President; Karen Muller, Executive Director. Editor: Karen Whittlesey (u34261@uicvm); Editorial Advisory Board: Liz Bishoff, Jennifer Younger, Robert P. Holley; Editorial Assistance: Yvonne McLean. ALCTS NETWORK NEWS is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. 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