SILS Plans 11th Trip to Oxford, Bodleian

Participants are being sought for a seminar offering a chance to study the history of librarianship at England's world-renowned Bodleian Library, one of the greatest research centers in the world.
The program is sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library and its Department for Continuing Education.

"Libraries and Librarianship: Past, Present and Future" is a two-week seminar that will
trace the Bodleian Library's past and chart the future of information and library services. Participants may earn three hours of graduate credit from SILS for attending the May 18-31, 2003, seminar.

In their 11th year of partnership on "Libraries and Librarianship," UNC at Chapel Hill and Oxford will provide a comprehensive survey of librarianship in England. Participants learn about academic libraries and librarianship in Britain, as well as trends and developments in library automation in Britain and Europe. Areas such as preservation, conservation and collection development policies are presented from both the Oxford and British national viewpoints.

The seminar offers information and library science professionals and graduate students an opportunity to discuss trends in academic librarianship and to meet peers from around the world. Past participants have included corporate librarians, special collection librarians, graduate students and retired librarians.

The Bodleian Library is one of the greatest libraries for advanced study and research in the world. The Bodleian, one of the British libraries of legal deposit or copyright libraries, holds more than six million items and annually attracts thousands of researchers.

Kathleen Curley, a librarian from Tucson, Ariz., and a 2001 participant in the program, called her Oxford trip "the most rewarding continuing education I have experienced."

"What impressed me the most was the quality of the presenters and the mix between current students and practicing librarians," Curley said. "The people in Oxford were outstanding and went out of the way to make us feel comfortable and went the extra mile to make things happen for us. You can't beat being in Oxford."

Dr. David Carr, a professor at SILS and past academic director for the 2002 trip, said Oxford's Bodleian library "makes our students welcome, opens its riches, and allows us to see the dimensions of a world treasury." Carr added, "No matter what their prior experiences as travelers and professionals, participants in the Oxford seminar feel that it is a watershed in their lives as learners."

Registrations must be postmarked by March 31, 2003. Registration is limited and early registration is encouraged. For more information, call (919) 962-8366 or send e-mail to oxford@ils.unc.edu.