Collaboration is Key at GOLD/GALILEO Conference
More than 300 librarians, media specialists, and library staff met in Athens on August 13 for the 21st GOLD/GALILEO User Group Conference. The conference theme, “Collaboration Comes of Age,” was especially appropriate as the first of two GALILEO 15th birthday celebrations drew a crowd to take a virtual trip through the history of the statewide virtual library. Special guests at the birthday celebration included Dr. William Gray Potter, University Librarian and Associate Provost, University of Georgia; Dr. George Gaumond, University Librarian and Library and Information Science Professor, Valdosta State University; Dr. Lamar Veatch, State Librarian, Georgia Public Library Service; and Dr. Curt Carver, Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Services, University System of Georgia. The birthday celebration included a slideshow of “GALILEO Fans” with praise and passion from members of the GALILEO community.
Tom Sanville from LYRASIS kicked off the conference with his keynote address on “Collaboration—And What It Really Means to Come of Age.” Sanville referred to a timeline of the digital age to show the growth of collaboration in the library world and challenged libraries to exploit consortium-based activity to help keep them relevant in the future.
Breakout sessions included topics on library website usability, open access and scholarly communications, library circulation for next generations, funding and grant strategies, government documents, and the PINES catalog. The Training Showcase included presentations from ProQuest, EBSCO, and Britannica trainers, as well as sessions on “GALILEO for Library Websites” and “’Where I’m from in GALILEO’ Lesson Plan.”
The GALILEO birthday celebration continued at the luncheon, when Carl Grant, President, Ex Libris North America, congratulated GALILEO on fifteen years of statewide collaboration and presented a birthday cake from Ex Libris. The next GALILEO birthday celebration will be a virtual event on the actual birthday of September 21. Details about the virtual celebration are forthcoming.