On a day when I went into cranky mode, this came into my inbox like a breath of fresh innovation. ERAMS stands for Electronic Resources Access and Management Services and is an initiative of some very wonderful librarians concerned about collection and access of eresources. From their website:
We need a place to focus on improving the current state of libraries, to create and share what we are doing, and to define the future direction of products, services and content. To create a community, an understanding, and a vocabulary about how we need to manage and make accessible our electronic content which is taking over more and more of our materials budgets.
They are focusing on four major areas: Collect. Correct. Connect. Control. These four words seem to encompass all that we are trying to do in our libraries. Such a simple yet much needed idea.
They are having a meeting in Baltimore at the end of this month. Here are the details, which are not yet on their website:
We are looking for the first 50 participants who are willing to visualize a library not focused solely on print resource management and willing to go out on a limb and conceptualize the library which is focused on user access and management of online resources & services. Four questions we will be brainstorming about, to try to develop our future scenario today, are:
What online resources would you collect?
How would you connect people to these new collections?
How will you control and manage these services?
How will you provide your users with the most correct information possible?Please join: Jill Emery, Bonnie Tijerina, & Elizabeth Winter to learn more about the ERAMS concept and the future possibility this concept holds for libraries.
Where: Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards (MD), Chesapeake Room
When: Saturday, March 31, 2007
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 PMLight refreshments will be available. Please RSVP to Jill Emery by March 29, 2007.
–Jane, a much needed discussion, subscribed