FROM THE PRESIDENT
Rebecca Lubas
Greetings, OLAC members! How time flies. At the Annual Meeting in New Orleans, it will already be time for the new OLAC President to take office.
I want to share with you an extraordinary opportunity I had this past April. I was invited to speak at National Library Week in Kosovo. Libraries in Kosovo, both academic and public, are preparing to make the leap from the card catalog to an integrated library system this year. In preparation for this huge step, librarians there have been updating their cataloging skills and learning the MARC format. As with all libraries, they have materials in multiple formats. They specifically asked me to come to teach audiovisual cataloging, since they want their new online system to include all materials. The librarians there are eager to learn and eager to advance information accessibility in their country.
I attempted to cram videos, electronic resources, maps, microforms and graphics into a very short time period. I would like to thank CAPC, and especially Jay Weitz, for encouraging me in this formidable task by letting me use much of their training materials. Many of the OLAC training materials have now been translated into Albanian and are being circulated amongst Kosovar librarians.
The experience was fantastic. The hospitality of the Kosovars was overwhelming, and their energy to move their country forward was inspirational. I encourage you to visit the Website of the National and University Library at <http://www.biblioteka-ks.org/index.php>. Even if your Albanian is a bit rusty, check out the amazing architecture of the building and cover shots of their publications.
Remember to register for our 2006 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, "Preparing for a Brave New World: Media Cataloging on the Threshold of RDA". Please see the OLAC Conference Website <http://www.asu.edu/lib/olac/> and get your hotel reservations and other arrangements ready!
It has been a pleasure serving as your OLAC President.
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Last updated: June 16, 2006
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