Charleston Conference

The Francis Marion Hotel, headquarters for the Charleston Conference

The Charleston Conference is an annual event for academic libraries and publishers, held in Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States.

History

The conference was started in 1980 by Charleston librarian Katina Strauch.^[1] Strauch started the event after being unable to afford to attend the American Library Association's Annual conference.^[2] The first event was attended by two dozen librarians, and grew to 1600 attendees in 2012.^[2] Its focus is on acquisition for research and academic libraries, particularly on serials and academic books. It also covers library infrastructure topics, such as vendor systems and library technology.^[3] It is held in three historic hotels in the downtown area of Charleston.^[4] The conference is one of the only major library conferences in the United States that is independent from a large professional or trade organization.^[3]

After the first conference, word spread. Since there were no other conferences like this for acquisitions personnel, there was no need for organized publicity, just word of mouth. So a grass roots gathering of a handful of acquisitions librarians has grown over the ensuing three decades to over 1,500 attendees in 2012.

Guiding Tenets and Evolution

Originally held in the spring and spanning two days, the Conference was moved to the first or second week of November because academic acquisitions librarians normally are too consumed by their local institution's budgetary issues in late spring. Based on attendees' recommendations, it was also lengthened a half day into Saturday which allowed attendees to drink in the appeal of historic Charleston as a venue as well as to offer additional sessions to an audience of broader professional scope.

After the Conference was several years old and its attendance was growing, Katina felt the need to initiate more frequent communication with past attendees. Accordingly, and with the help of Steve Johnson, Head of Acquisitions at Clemson University who had his own beer lover's newsletter and helped with the layout, Katina and her husband Bruce launched Against the Grain: Linking Publishers, Vendors, and Librarians in March, 1989. Originally conceived as a 4-page mimeographed handout for Conference attendees only, ATG grew quickly. The first issue was 10 pages long instead of 4, and ATG issues now comprise a minimum of 88 pages. The first issues of ATG were distributed by Ballen Booksellers and Alfred Jaeger, Inc. with help from Ambassador Books. Ads were not initially intended for the publication, but Against the Grain began to get requests for ad space. Edna Laughrey, former Head of Acquisitions at the University of Michigan volunteered and became ATG's first ads manager. Thus Katina began to involve willing Conference attendees in increasing the reach of the Conference to the library and publishing world. Word of the Conference continued to spread, and attendance continued to grow.

The program for the first decade of Charleston Conferences was a series of consecutive plenary talks by a handful of speakers. However, in the 1990s, as the online networked world began to expand, topics were too diverse to fit into a series of plenary talks given over only two and one-half days. Traditional lines of demarcation between the operations inside libraries had blurred and continue to blur and the Charleston Conference has been able to stay not only current but be on the cutting edge of factors influencing change in information's allied professions.

The Conference is an organic, living organization. As such, Conference organizers began to plan concurrent presentation sessions to compliment the generally broader-scope plenary presentations. These concurrent sessions tended to be subject or process-focused and allowed more attendees to present their research findings to the professional information community. The 2012 Charleston Conference included over 240 such concurrent sessions.

Over time the original focus of the Conference on acquisitions applications in academic libraries has broadened to encompass a full range of ideas, problems, and opportunities faced by scholarly publishers, vendors, and libraries and the advancement, sharing, and preservation of knowledge. Topics such as copyright and compliance, standards, communication, digital rights, networking, technology advances, budgets, and archiving are germane to everyone in the information profession.

When Katina began the Conference, she had two caveats. First, she did not want concurrent sessions; she wanted everyone to hear the same paper at the same time and react to its content as a community. Second, she did not want exhibits as she felt the Conference should be about ideas and not become a commercial venue. Also, as a newly minted acquisitions librarian from an unknown academic library, she wanted to create a venue that wasn't just for the "big guys" and already-well-known librarians. She didn't want to exclude them, of course, but she wanted to be mindful of the little, insignificant guys, many coming from small academic institutions. The Conference has held true to the original attendee-inclusive objectives for thirty-three years.

Although as concurrent sessions became a necessity given the explosion of the virtual world and the growth of attendance, the Charleston Conference still gives opportunities for presentations, open questions, friendly repartee, and continued discussion to players from all types of academic libraries, interested public and special libraries, scholarly publishers, vendors and aggregators, consultants, students, etc. Unknown participants are frequently given special consideration when they are identified. A third caveat - Katina wanted to preserve informality, giving the opportunity for give and take during plenary. Microphones are opened to the audience after each plenary presentation, and anyone wishing to comment or question is encouraged to do so. The only requirement to speak is to first identify oneself.

Regarding the introduction of commercial exhibits... in 1999, after attending conferences with exhibits of all sorts of products, the organizers decided to trial a focused vendor showcase. This allowed companies with products of direct application and interest to collection developers, acquisitions librarians, serials librarians, digital services librarians, etc. to showcase their products for librarians to see first hand, unencumbered by multiple products less applicable to the relevant information professional in attendance. The now successful vendor showcase is held prior to the main conference on Wednesday for an eight-hour period and does not conflict with programming on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The exhibits are kept simple; tables may be shared by more than one related vendor/publisher. The physical structure and short duration for the vendor showcase attains the informal feeling so characteristic of Charleston Conferences overall. Vendors do not have to staff exhibit booths during the conference presentations of interest to them. They are encouraged to send their most knowledgeable representatives to answer questions form conference attendees and to interact openly in other sessions and social activities. A smorgasbord of refreshments set up in the middle of the vendor showcase area also adds to its pleasant and informal atmosphere.

Organization Issues

As previously noted, a grass roots gathering of a handful of acquisitions librarians in 1980 grew to 1500 in 2012 and included a mix of publishers, vendors, aggregators, consultants, students, and librarians. Spread over 2.5+ days in early November-late Wednesday afternoon through mid-afternoon Saturday -- broad, often controversial, topics of interest to the world of information professionals are explored in plenary sessions which are interspersed with multiple concurrent "break-out" focused sessions exploring the practical, the novel, or the clever application to instruction and research. Speakers are drawn not only from the information professions of publishing, academic/public/research/government librarianship, vendors of information tools, and technology gurus but from the corporate world of the broader service industry sector, such as Goggle or Amazon. Prominent speakers, known both for their professional acumen and their presentation skills, are solicited; and expert panels providing opposing or complimentary viewpoints are convened and are deftly moderated. A multi-section, printed program offers not only the daily program schedule and a précis of each presentation but the bios of all the presenters and a list of those attendees who have pre-registered along with their contact information.

The program itself is a feat of organization and information. The program is produced in hardcopy and in digital form available via the Conference website. When recently surveyed, attendees continue to want a printed program in addition to the online. Attendees can manage their own online Conference calendar. The conference online program serves as a retrospective repository of sorts where presenters may add their slides post-conference in addition to the abstracts of all presentations already available prior to the Conference. Recordings of all plenary sessions (when permitted by speakers) is made available free of charge on the Conference website as well.

Cognizant of travel budgets across academic libraries, online registration begins in early June before the end of most institutions' fiscal year. "Early bird" registration generally closes in early September and regular registration generally is open through mid-October. Onsite registration is possible but is not encouraged. The Conference secures blocks of rooms in several hotels - mostly those close to Marion Square in downtown Charleston. Shuttle busses are available between Conference hotels and venues on a limited schedule. The Charleston Visitor Bureau helps planners with hotel and restaurant information, and vendors can seek their assistance in planning ancillary entertainment.

The Francis Marion has served as the Conference's anchor hotel since the College of Charleston repurposed its adjoining Lightsey Conference Center in 2001 where the Conference had been based for several years. Prior to the Lightsey Center, the Charleston Conference was held in several College of Charleston venues depending on availability and space required - a student commons room on campus, in the Education Center, in the Sottile Theatre. Since relocating to the Francis Marion Hotel, which is too small to accommodate the entire conference, the Conference has used several hotels and College of Charleston buildings in addition to the Francis Marion - the Historic Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Charleston (the site of the old Citadel), the downtown Hampton Inn, the Addlestone Library of the College of Charleston, the Science Center of the College of Charleston, and most recently the Marriott Courtyard (once a Holiday Inn). The Gaillard auditorium in downtown Charleston is currently being renovated and expanded and several additional hotels are in the works, so the Conference planners are optimistic that downtown Charleston will continue to be a viable location for the Charleston Conference.

The fact that the Charleston Conference is not sponsored by a professional association, such as ALA or AHA, contributes to its uniqueness. That no professional or corporate entity drives its focus gives Conference organizers the freedom to expand to where the action is, to predict where it will be, and nimbly go there first. Program design is in the hands of a small, unpaid leadership group providing continuity and structure. This contrasts positively against the design of programs for many professional association conferences where volunteer organizers come and go and topics may be planned years in advance, at a time when they are relevant but relevance may have changed. Charleston planners are able to put a program together with a shorter lead time; thus the programs off immediate appeal and current relevance.

Regarding the Conference structure, seasoned attendees know what to expect of the day and when - lending calm to an otherwise frenetic schedule of presentations and associated activities. For those new to the Conference, a few "old-timers" serve as mentors to newbies by answering their questions emailed prior to the Conference and are also avail able for additional guidance during the Conference staffing an information table near the registration area. The use of mentors was brokered by Pam Cenzer, then at the University of Florida, and Susan Campbell of York College, who suggested it. The mentors welcome first timers and orient them as needed. Mentors also serve a "concierge" function for all attendees by interpreting local maps, giving directions, suggesting restaurants, and advising on transportation choices. Being available for immediate problem-solving assistance adds to their overall usefulness.

The Conference Program

These are the over arching themes of each year of the conference.

• 2017: What's Past is Prologue
• 2016: Roll With the Times, or the Times Roll Over You
• 2015: Where do We Go from Here
• 2014: The Importance of Being Earnest
• 2013: Too Much is Not Enough
• 2012: Accentuate the Positive
• 2011: Something's Gotta Give!
• 2010: Anything Goes
• 2009: Necessity is the Mother of Invention
• 2008: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
• 2007: What Tangled Webs We Weave
• 2006: Unintended Consequences
• 2005: Things Are Seldom What They Seem
• 2004: All the World's a Serial
• 2003: Games People Play
• 2002: Two Faces Have I: One for Books and One for Bytes
• 2001: The Trends They are A'Changing
• 2000: Is Bigger Better?
• 1999: And the Beat Goes On
• 1998: We Want More for Less
• 1997: Learning From Our Mistakes
• 1996: Money Talks
• 1995: Still Crazy After All These Years
• 1994: The Savage Marketplace
• 1993: Bubble, Bubble Toil and Trouble
• 1992: The Medium is the Message
• 1991: And I am Right, And You are Right, Too-Loo-Ra-Lay
• 1990: The Pure and Simple Truth (Oscar Wilde)
• 1989: Remembrance of Things Past
• 1988: Questioning Assumptions
• 1987: Plus Ça Change
• 1986: External Influences on Acquisitions and Collection
• 1985: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Finance
• 1984: Old Problems, New Solutions
• 1983: Collection Development in the 1980's
• 1982: No Conference This Year
• 1981: No Theme
• 1980: No Theme

Invited speakers deliver plenary presentations in the Carolina Ballroom of the Francis Marion Hotel. These approximately 45-minute presentations are simultaneously transmitted for viewing to large audiences gathered in several other ballrooms and large meeting rooms across the Conference venues. Each venue has at least one moderator who interacts via microphone with a counterpart in the Carolina Ballroom allowing those remote from the physical speaker to feel intimately involved in "the action". Courtesy reigns in the Francis Marion ballroom even though contrarian views are encouraged.

Each year brings presentations of current interest, yet annual reprises of certain themes engender great audience anticipation. Recent favorites have been a panel discussion on recent - or anticipated - legislation and current court cases which affect the information landscape and a point-counterpoint debate on the future of the information industry. Speakers chosen as panelists speak to the multiple facets of a hot topic, recently the advance in technology and user acceptance of eBooks. Individual plenary presentations maybe delivered by prominent information professionals or by individuals prominent in advancing fields that impact the information professions.

Concurrent, smaller-audience, break-out sessions are more loosely organized, but several thematic tracks are offered for those interested in zeroing in on one facet of the information spectrum. Tracks such as budget/fundraising/allocation formulae, end users/use statistics/usability studies, management and technology off broadly targeted presentations. Individuals seeking to present choose the track where they feel their presentations would best fit, and Conference program organizers select from them to develop a balanced program. Location of the break-out session rooms across multiple venues is done differently from other conferences where a specialized group may hear presentations in the same room or two for the duration of the conference. Theme tracks are less important in room choice than the size of the audience anticipated to attend. Room sizes at the several Conference venues vary widely and accommodate from 15 to 800.

The Charleston Conference is a dynamic community. Organizers welcome suggestions and ideas doe innovations. Fast Tech Talks give companies a chance to showcase a product or service; Innovation Sessions allow participants to discuss or brainstorm new approaches; Poster Sessions give presenters the opportunity to display information regarding their department or library; Pre-Conferences are designed to delve deeply into a subject when there is insufficient time during a plenary or concurrent session and the topic is deemed by the organizers to be important; Juried Product Development Forums allow companies to discuss possible future products, ideas, or innovations with a small group of interested librarians. Dine-Arounds on Friday nights give attendees an opportunity to meet each other and try out he culinary fare in a nearby restaurant. Each of these program innovations was suggested by conference attendees or members of the Charleston Conference planning group.

Concurrent presentations at mid-day, termed "Lively Lunches", allow attendees not to break their trend of concentration but to eat lunch in the meeting rooms during lunchtime presentations. With so many restaurants offering take-out in the immediate vicinity of Charleston's Marion Square, the Lively Lunches allow attendees to select their own fare with only 30-minute recess. Over the past several years with more restaurant choices in the vicinity, more time has been allowed for attendees to get lunch and return to the sessions.

Break-out and Lively Lunch program choices are so varied that attendees must make their choices in advance. The sessions are kept small, and the number of concurrent sessions/Lively Lunches offered increases with the increasing number of Conference attendees. Questions are always encouraged in all sessions; microphones are also provided there as necessary. Members of the audience are encouraged to chime in with questions or to add their own experience/opinion. Often there is much give-and-take between presenter and audience to the benefit of all assembled. Most break-out sessions attract at least seven attendees, and some require extra chairs for forty or more. Sessions expected to draw the biggest crowd are scheduled in the larger Conference rooms in the Francis Marion or the Marriott Courtyard - hotels located around the edge of Marion Square.Some sessions are held in the College of Charleston's Addlestone Library which offers an opportunity to explore that lovely building opened in January 2005. Sessions have also been held in the College's science building across the street from Addlestone, Prior to 2001, the College of Charleston's Lightsey Center served as a venue.

The Gala Reception buffet on Thursday evening is included in the registration fee and has been held in various locations about town, e.g. the Aquarium, the Customs House & Old Jail; the College of Charleston School of Sciences and Mathematics Courtyard, the Blacklock house, Rivers Green of the College of Charleston. A particularly memorable event was an oyster roast held at the city's Visitor Center. The city's stamp is continually intertwined into the culture of the Conference. For those attendees whose employers do not reimburse meals, this Conference not send them back home hungry!

Late Wednesday afternoon's Juried Product Development Forum presentations, for which a limited number of non-corporate conference attendees may register in advance, allow vendors to test the market for a product or procedure in the development stage before introducing it to the market. Vendor submissions are reviewed by an anonymous panel, and the successful applicants must demonstrate that their product/process has been developed to the point where it can be judged; they cannot simply look to bounce an idea off the participant group. As a result, an interested and knowledgeable audience provides feedback in time for a revision, improvement, or extension.

The Conference's commitment to a responsive culture is demonstrated by a post-conference "Rump Session" held on Saturday afternoon to immediately review the past day's events. All attendees are invited, and thinking begins for the next year's Conference. Conference critiques are requested from all registrants and are analyzed for their suggestions. Thus, the planning cycle begins anew.

Conference Administration

The Charleston Conference has several important working groups. The local arrangements group handles registrations, hotel logistics, communicates with registrants, and the like. This working group consists of three key people who keep everything in order. The Charleston Conference content planning group selects keynote speakers and concurrent session presentations. This group consists of librarians, publishers, and vendors form many areas. Members of the planning group stay involved as long as they are able. Additional members of the planning group are added every year. The Conference planners like continuity. There is a primary leader of the Conference planning group. The first primary contact was Judy Webster, Head of Acquisitions at the University of Tennessee, who unfortunately passed away too early. The next primary contact was Rosann Bazirjan who was at Penn State University at the time and is now Dean of Libraries at UNC-Greensboro. The current primary program contact is Beth Bernhardt also at UNC-Greensboro.

Several key individuals contribute to the overall success of the Charleston Conference. Leah Hinds is the primary contact for the Conference overall. Leah oversees registration and is the Associate Director of the Charleston Conference. Leah works with Beth Bernhardt and the Conference planning group on the content of the program.Leah also manages the Conference website and Against the Grain website, contacts potential advertisers and sponsors, and manages the publication of the Conference Proceedings by Purdue University Press. Toni Nix handles the Vendor Showcase and Against the Grain advertising. Sharna Williams coordinates all registrations as well as managing the Juried Product Development Forums. Regina Semko retired as previous long-time registrar of the Conference. Regina was with the Conference for over ten years and saw many changes over her tenure with the Conference. And, of course, the founder, Katina Strauch, continues to be both behind and at front and center in the scene! Katina is now Assistant Dean for Technical Services emeritus at the Addlestone library.

The content planning group at present, numbering over sixteen members and chaired by Beth Bernhardt for the past six years, consists of librarians, publishers, vendors, and consultants. The Primary organization and content of the plenary session is decided by this group. Proposals for concurrent sessions are submitted online and a small group makes selections, at times consulting specific members of the content planning group. Members of the planning group are mindful of the content and evaluations of both the plenary sessions and the concurrent sessions. The Content planning group holds several regular conference calls during the year.

The Conference design offers opportunities for corporate sponsors, some of whom underwrite a morning or afternoon coffee break or the Southern (Ham and biscuits) breakfast on Saturday. They often invite groups of their customers for dinner on Friday evening.

For those attendees not being feted by a vendor or publisher on Friday evening, the conference sponsors group dinners, called Dine-Arounds, at several local restaurants with a sign-up sheet at the information booth. Those dinner groups meet in the Francis Marion lobby and are guided on a walk to their chosen restaurant. Dine-Arounds underscore that sense of community among Conference attendees which is promoted by its very structure in a city famed for Southern hospitality. In the same spirit of community and friendliness, the conference feted long-time attendees at its 25th anniversary in 2005 with a booklet featuring the career biographies of 50 individuals from all walks of the information profession who had influenced this Conference's long-term success.

Organizing committee members audit some of the break-out sessions and may report in Against the Grain, a publication emanating from the conference but not limited to Conference reporting. Against the Grain is mailed bi monthly to all Conference registrants for the year following a Conference. For many years, Ramune Kubilius has managed the reports from Charleston Conference for Against the Grain.

Legacy and Publications

Papers from the Charleston Conferences have always been considered worthy of publication and sharing. As noted above, several of the papers from the very first Charleston Conference were published in AB Bookman's Weekly. Beginning in 1983, Scott Bullard, editor of Library Acquisitions: Practice and Theory published by Pergamon began to publish many of the papers from the Charleston Conference. Against the Grain published the proceedings in 2000 and Greenwood/Libraries Unlimited published the proceedings from 2001-2009. In 2009 the Conference entered into an agreement with Purdue University Press to publish the future proceedings. Purdue University Press is also publishing a Charleston Insights monograph series building on important issues and trends from the Conferences. The first Charleston Insights monograph published in 2012 was by copyright guru Lolly N. Gasaway of UNC-Chapel Hill entitled Copyright Questions and Answers for Information Professionals. More volumes from the Charleston Insights are in the works.

In 1997, Mario Casalini, President of Casalini Libri in Fiesole, Intaly, approached Katina about starting a Conference like Charleston in Italy. The Fiesole Colleciton Development Retreats were begun in April , 1999, but they are not just like Charleston. They are considerably smaller (60-100 people), are by invitation only, and are not always held in the same place, i.e. in Fiesole, Italy. They are held annually in March and May in Italy every three years, and during the summer months in international venues. So far Fiesole Collection Development Retreats have been held in St. Petersburg, Russia, Leuven, Belgium, Glasgow, Scotland, Hong Kong, Lund, Sweden, Melbourne, Australia, Amsterdam, and every third year in Fiesole, Italy.

In 2006, ABC-Clio began the annual Vicky Speck ABC-Clio Leadership Award. Vicky Speck edited many Charleston Conference proceedings with Rosann Bazirjan before her untimely death. Several companies give scholarships to help attendees defray the cost of attending the Conference including Ebsco, Harrassowitz, and IGI Global.

Values

The Charleston COnference's unique appeal lies in its relatively small size, broad-to-specific mix of presentation topics, close interactions between library-related professionals, scholarly publishers, aggregators and vendors, no exhibits conflicting with sessions, compact venue, overall aura of informality, and a structure which fosters a "complete immersion" experience.

The Charleston Conference sticks to the set of values that the organizers consider essential to its operation. The atmosphere must be informal and welcoming so that people can say what they think. Allow humor, because humor goes a long way to create a lively and friendly atmosphere. The programming must be flexible, allowing time for last-minute, timely additions to the program. The structure must be dynamic so that changes can be made to the structure of the programming frequently. It's important to surprise attendees with innovative programing. Avoid group think; peer review is good and necessary, but we all have a tendency to reward/accept what is the conventional wisdom. Acknowledge that new and good ideas can come from anywhere and that a library technical assistant or a "low person on the totem pole" can have just as valid an idea or concept as the CEO or Library Dean. When sessions are suggested, evaluate the idea and work with the presenter to make his or her point in a way that will increase its understandability to the audience. Try not to turn down ideas out of hand, remember - everyone has a good idea. Take chances with programming, plenary or concurrent. Try what other conferences won't do or can't do. Do not be overly bureaucratic. Be positive and smile at all times. The Conference founder tries to be impartial and remember that nothing is attempted if all objections must first be overcome.

The added charm of the Charleston, South Carolina setting featuring fine, moderately priced restaurants, obvious and extensive historical significance, artistic and recreational opportunities plus sheer physical beauty buoys the COnference's appeal and contributes to its success. The vision and vigilant guidance of a single individual, Katina Strauch, aided by a coterie of hard-working assistants, has served to keep the Conference high on the desiderata list of most librarians - both US and international.

References