A little while ago (well, 3 months ago, to be exact!) I attended the CILIP Cataloguing and Indexing Group annual conference in Exeter.
I have to confess, the last one of these I went to was in 2000, when it was held in the Green Dragon Hotel in Hereford - very handy as I was able to stay with relatives who lived very close by. That particular conference was quite interesting and discussed issues like tele-working and practical indexing. This latest conference, however, covered a very much wider range of topics, from standards (MARC21, RDA, LCSH etc.) through good practice (name headings and lean workflows), to old chestnuts (retrospective cataloguing), and newer ideas (OERs, digital preservation).
The range of speakers was super, each with their own specialities and delivery styles, so what with the broad range of subjects on offer, there really was something for everyone!
One of the most exciting parts for me was to be able to meet other cataloguers, people I had almost forgotten existed; how wonderful it was to hear others wax lyrical about things that were dear to my heart, where normally I would be regarded as being a bit odd by my colleagues!
It was recognised at the conference that the economic climate was not looking encouraging, hence the sessions on lean workflows and getting the most out of resources. The idea of sharing cataloguing record creation, using the best knowledge of all cataloguers to add LCSH and the idea of sharing the updating of name headings were all things that were welcomed by the group.
The presentations from the conference are available from the CIG conference registration site if you are interested enough to want to have a look.
Next conference will be at the CILIP Umbrella Conference in July 2011.
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