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Dear Colleagues: I definitely understand the frustration that BHA users have with currency, especially over the last few months. I have read the comments on this list with great interest and, in fact, with appreciation. Many of the comments note that BHA is one of the most valuable reference tools in the field, something that the BHA staff obviously likes to hear. That there are complaints about BHA's currency reinforces to me the importance to BHA—that such a shortcoming is noticed and considered not to be acceptable. At ARLIS meetings in Atlanta and in Denver I made a promise that you would see a “new BHA” well before now. I have been unable to keep that promise, and the following explains the situation we are in—a situation that, in fact, bodes well for the future. Many of you noted that currency has been a weak point of BHA and that recently currency has gotten worse. We agree with that, and in order to correct that we created from scratch and at great cost a production system that will allow us to put new records up as soon as a week after the book or article to be included is seen by an editor. Why, given this spanking new system, has currency not improved? Because: 1. The transition between the old and new systems presented us with unforeseen and time-consuming technical problems. 2. Beginning in 2008, we no longer have an agreement with INIST, our former partners in France, to produce 40% of the records in BHA. 3. BHA has three distributors: Ovid, ProQuest (formerly CSA), and OCLC. Wilson will be added to this group shortly. Each of the distributors must have a new contract, and we have been unable—for confidential legal reasons—to initiate these contracts until December 2008. Legal arrangements with the distributors are now underway. The first update from our new production system will arrive as soon as technical and legal requirements are fulfilled. We have begun testing our new format with the distributors. As the new format becomes available during the coming months, I will inform you on this listserv. Your feedback on the new formats will be appreciated. The first update will include records for works published not only in 2008 but also in 2009, and will include almost a year’s worth of our work. Finally, a note about the near future. I have mentioned that BHA would change its name beginning this year, but that will not be clear for another few weeks. If the name will be changed, there will be a press release that I will make sure is sent to this listserv. Our new Web-based production system allows for volunteers to contribute to BHA. Should you have an interest in covering any journals, please let me know. We appreciate your patience with us in this transition period, and I hope that you can trust that your patience will be rewarded soon by a fresh and radically more current bibliography. Terence Ford Head, Research Databases Getty Research Institute phone: 310 440 6599 fax: 310 440 6178 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, CA 90049 __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/join.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]