[PADG:1625] Conference: Off the Wall and Online

["Lori Foley" <lfoley@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Northeast Document Conservation Center presents
Off the Wall and Online:
Providing Web Access to Cultural Collections
May 30-31, 2002

If you have time for only one conference this year, opt for Off the Wall and
Online, at The National Heritage Museum (formerly The Museum of Our National
Heritage) in Lexington, Massachusetts. This cutting-edge conference from the
Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, Massachusetts, is
designed to serve institutions that are digitizing or planning to digitize
collections and also those who simply want to make their Web sites more
interesting. As the emergence of the World Wide Web has made the world
smaller, museums and their online audiences have grown tremendously. This
event will address the questions and challenges facing both large and small
institutions that are undertaking digitization projects and putting images
from their collections online for educational purposes, research, and public
relations.

The NEDCC conference will bring together museum educators, technical
experts, and administrators to discuss the new access opportunities as well
as the often perplexing issues of quality versus cost and longevity of
digital files. A keynote address by Beverly Sheppard, Deputy Director of
IMLS, will focus on outreach to diverse communities. New evaluation data
will be presented to help define the online audience and determine what
sorts of programs are most effective in engaging this audience.

Topics will include:
- The Changing Role of Museums
- Attracting Visitors to a Web Site
- Cooperating to Build Virtual Collections
- Reaching Out to Diverse Audiences
- Designing a Web Site
- Quality of Scanned Images
- Web-based Education
- Image Capture for Preservation & Access

The conference will be held on May 30-31, 2002, at The National Heritage
Museum (formerly The Museum of Our National Heritage) in Lexington,
Massachusetts. A National Museum Leadership Grant from the Institute of
Museum and Library Services (IMLS) supports this high-profile event. IMLS is
an independent, federal, grant-making agency that fosters leadership,
innovation, and education learning through museums and libraries.
Co-sponsors are the New England Museum Association and The National Heritage
Museum. NEDCC also receives financial support for its field service
activities from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the
Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Registration information is available on NEDCC's Web site at www.nedcc.org
or contact Ginny Hughes at ghughes@xxxxxxxxx