----------------------------Original message----------------------------
This announcement and questionnaire for the "Ask ARLIS Session 5" in
Vancouver is being re-posted.  The time slot has been changed to Tuesday
morning.  If you do not plan to attend the session, members would still be
interested to know about your particular situation.  Please take a moment to
complete the questionnaire and describe aspects of how new media and
technology impacts the Library in your institution, if at all.

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ARLIS/NA Conference
ASK ARLIS Session #5
Tuesday March 30, 1999 from 10:00 - 11:30
TITLE:          Resource Centers in the Museum
SPONSOR:    Museum Group

In recent years, museums and higher educational institutions have been
awarded
funding for expanding patron access to information using latest new media
and
technologies.  Labeled "Resource Rooms" or "Information Centers," these
areas, generally separate from the library, are equiped with
high-powered PCs, serve to provide technology training for staff and
patrons, access to web-based information, cd-rom products and in-house
databases; in some instances traditional books and catalogs are available.

Funding for this new service is often acquired through grant monies or
funding received in conjunction with other institutional projects and
cross departmental lines, i.e. education departments, public
programming, etc.  Libraries may or may not be directly involved
in the planning and administration of these centers.

If your institution is or has been involved in planning or designing this
type of
information center, please fill out the following questionnaire and
return it to me via the ARLIS listserve.
________________________________________________________________

1. Has your institution established or are there plans for creating an
"information center" or "resource room" for public access to information
about exhibitions, research or collections?

2. Where did the funding for the project originate?  Please describe a brief
history of how the center evolved in your institution.

3. What resources does it contain? (Access to collections, exhibition
information, community-based resources, etc.)

4. Where in the structure of the institution does administration of the
"resource center" lie: Library, Systems department, Education, etc.?

6.  Do you believe the center represents an outgrowth of the Library and the
services it provided in the past?

7.  How has the library defended its own need for staffing and resources
in this newer, expanding electronic environment?

8.  Do you have ideas how libraries might tap into the sources of
funding for technology programs within their domain?

9.  Does your institution's web site reflect Library resources? Learning
Center resources?

10. Any other comments?