Dear Colleagues:

The 2000 ALCTS Preconference on Metadata: Libraries and the Web--Retooling
AACR and MARC21 for Cataloging in the Twenty-first Century will be held
on:

Dates:  Thursday, July 6, 2000, 7:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and
        Friday,   July 7, 2000, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at
Location:  Palmer House, Grand Ballroom.

We are very pleased to let you know that we are expecting around 400
participants at the ALCTS Preconference on Metadata. This is almost double
what we originally estimated.  The Preconference will be a big and popular
one.  Please send your registrations to ALA as soon as possible if you
plan to attend.  The deadline is June 7, 2000.  For those who have sent
their registrations we are pleased to report that ALCTS will send a
confirmation to you after June 7th.

ALCTS executives have been expanding the conference space to its maximum
capacity to accommodate the popularity of this Preconference. Both ALCTS
and the Preconference Planning Task Force are working very hard to make
everyone feel welcome, comfortable and rewarded.

We are presenting to you topnotch speakers, timely topics, enthusiastic
sponsors and excellent participants.  Because of the large audience ALCTS
will set up computers, projectors and special AV equipment to project the
speakers and to display the PowerPoint presentations on two large screens
simultaneously. These arrangements are similar to what ALA does at the
President's Programs, Membership or Council meetings.  Those of you who
are attending will be very happy to meet our enthusiastic speakers and
will be impressed by the high tech arrangements at this event.

We want to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of this
Preconference.  They are:  EBSCO Information Services, ISI, the
NetLibrary, Inc., and OCLC, Inc.  There will be two continental
breakfasts, four coffee breaks for both days (July 6-7), and a reception
on Thursday, July 6, 2000, 5:30-6:30 pm.  Furthermore, a delicious lunch
will be provided on Thursday, July the 6th.  We hope you will have many
opportunities to meet and to talk with the speakers, the sponsors and the
participants at the Preconference.

We want to thank our speakers for their hard work.  We also want to thank
Karen Muller, Charles Wilt, Yvonne McLean and ALCTS leaders for their
guidance, assistance and support. We want to thank our Preconference
participants as well for your earnest support!  ALCTS and the
Preconference Task Force members should be very proud of our achievements
thus far.

We are very pleased to have this extremely exciting opportunity to work
with you.  This will be one of the most significant Preconferences for us
to welcome the 21st Century.  We are pleased to report that ALA will
publish the Metadata Preconference Proceedings.  Brad Eden, Wayne Jones,
Judith Ahronheim and Josephine Crawford will be working on the
Proceedings.  We believe it will become one of the keepsakes of the 21st
Century.

For more information please visit ALCTS Preconference Web site at:
http://www.ala.org/alcts/events/metadata.html

We look forward to the pleasure of sharing a quality and productive
Preconference with all of you.  See you in Chicago.

Sally C. Tseng
Mary L. Larsgaard
Co-Chairs, ALCTS Preconference on Metadata

Sally
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Sally Tseng
Head, Serials Cataloging                 Telephone: 949-824-6832
Science Library #331                     Fax:        949-824-2059
University of California, Irvine         FAX (H):    949-857-1988
P.O. Box 19557                           email:      sctseng@uci.edu
Irvine, CA 92623
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