Charleston Conference Proceedings 2004

The Charleston Conference Proceedings 2004, document what is arguably the most influential and highly thought of conferences in the U.S. library world. Always well attended and managed, the Conference attracts the leading figures of both the library world and the businesses that service libraries, including publishers—both paper and electronic— jobbers and aggregators. Its focus is collection management, but the topic is misleading now that traditional collection management has been expanded to include electronic publications of all sorts. Each year the speakers and topics are outstanding and 2004 was no exception. Indeed, the Conference seems to get better each year. The theme of the 2004 conference, All the World's a Serial provided the focus for a wide variety of papers and presentations in collection development, Journals, The Book, Technology, Personell Issues, Consortia, Budgeting, and Books on the Internet.

The Charleston Conference is arguably one of the most influential and highly regarded conferences in the U.S. library world. Always well attended and managed, the conference attracts the leading figures from libraries and the businesses that service them, including publishers, jobbers and aggregators. The theme of the Charleston Conference Proceedings 2004 is All the World's A Serial.

For librarians, these proceedings feature 60 essays from the Charleston Conference of November 2004 on the theme "All the World's a Serial." Sections relate to aspects of collection development, journals, the book, technology, personnel and budget/fiscal matters, the internet, buying books consortially, and MARC records for e-journals. The primarily US contributors discuss electronic resources, publishing, policy, reference and out-of-print books, digital projects, online searching and research, and internet book buying and selling. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Kitsa Lipecky, BA, MLS(Duquesne University)
Description:This is a compilation of the proceedings of the sessions presented at the 2004 Charleston Conference. The series editor is Katina Strauch, the founder of the conference.
Purpose:The publication provides an overview of the conference, All the World's a Serial, and all sessions presented. The purpose of the conference is to bring together professionals including librarians, publishers, vendors, computer techs, consultants, and others who deal with acquiring or assisting those who acquire materials for libraries.
Audience:The primary audience is librarians who handle any task involved in the acquisitions process including maintaining and developing acquired materials. Vendors and consultants will find it useful since the needs of those in the business of library acquisitions are reflected in the sessions. It will also give them an opportunity to plan future presentations.
Features:The topics include everything to do with acquisitions, from collection development to buying books, technology, MARC records for e-journals, and open access. Such a wide variety of subjects gives the reader a grand overview of the scope of the conference. It is organized by area and topic within each area and each session reported in detail, usually in 2-3 pages. The sessions reflect the objectives of the conference. Just as the name of the conference changed from the Acquisitions Conference to the Charleston Conference, it is evident that today the acquisition of library materials has grown into a much larger and more skilled business.
Assessment:Since it is impossible to attend every session presented at the conference, the book is beneficial to those who attended. It also gives a good overview of each session so that those who did not attend can see what is covered and plan future visits. The topics of database evaluations and open access are especially timely and worthwhile. All of the sessions are described thoroughly and in a succinct manner. It is an easy and worthwhile read for those in the business of acquisitions.

KATINA STRAUCH