> Hi, > > I'm at the annual NGS Convention in Richmond. Clearly we are not > the most important act in town. The NASCAR races come to Richmond twice a > year, and this week is their week. Hotels and restaurants are jammed. > Despite the reservation I had made months in advance, my hotel "walked me" > to another hotel because they had overbooked. At least one car agency has > run completely out of rental cars. How one evaluates a convention is > pretty much dependent on your needs. I rank this one as average for > content, below average for venue, above average for exhibits, and way > above average for local reference support based on the very strong Library > of Virginia contribution. > > The Library of Virginia recently moved into a new 6-story building > that occupies a full city block in downtown Richmond. Their IT system is > second to none. Because it is a closed-stacks library, I strongly urge > you to use their on-line catalogs to narrow down your search before you > visit in person. Go to http://leo.vsla.edu. What you will see is almost > identical to what you'll see on the terminals throughout the library. > And, you can order books from the stacks right from your library terminal > - no call slips! The amount of data available on-line is astonishing. > For example, all the Northern Neck Land Grant index cards have been > digitized and are searchable by surname. Deeds, Bible records, > photographs, Wills and more. Personal property tax records alone comprise > 19,000 volumes of original records and 300 reels of film. Another 19,000 > volumes of land tax records comprise one of the oldest series of records > in the Library. Finally, I've never met a more friendly and helpful > staff. They opened early for us, closed late, gave us discounts at the > Library store, provided library cards and free sets of research notes > covering a half-dozen different topics, etc. > > From an interview of convention attendees in this morning's Richmond > Times-Dispatch: "Computers have made it easier," said (name withheld). > "Before, it was too hard, too expensive and too tedious," she said, citing > travel time and the laborious perusal of old documents. > Well, I don't know about all you folks, but statements like that > ought to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. > > Next year's NGS Convention will be in Providence, RI 31 May - 3 June > 2000. See you there! > > Warm regards, > -= Bruce =- > >