Conferences
Since 1959, RBMS has held an annual preconference in conjunction with the ALA annual conference:
- Past RBMS Preconferences
- RBMS Preconference Scholarship Program Assessment
- Past RBMS/ALA Annual Conference Programs
- RBMS/ALA Meeting Schedules
See also the Conference Development Committee Manual, which contains scheduling and other information relating to upcoming and past RBMS preconferences.
2010 RBMS Preconference
Join or Die: Collaboration in Special Collections. The 51st annual RBMS Preconference will be held in Philadelphia from Tuesday, June 22 through Friday, June 25, 2010, just prior to the ALA Annual Meeting (which will be held in Washington, D.C.)
2011 RBMS Preconference
The 52nd RBMS Preconference will be held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from Tuesday, June 21 through Friday, June 24, 2011, just prior to the ALA Annual Meeting, which will be held in New Orleans. The preconference theme will be determined after the 2009 ALA elections. Staff of the LSU Libraries' Special Collections division, in collaboration with their colleagues around the state, will coordinate local arrangements. We expect that the preconference hotel will be the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center, an historic hotel centrally located in the arts and entertainment district.
Past RBMS Preconferences
- "Seas of Change: Navigating the Cultural and Institutional Contexts of Special Collections," the 50th Annual RBMS, Preconference Charlottesville, VA June 17-20, 2009.
[Selected Presentations and Documents] - “Rare and Special Bytes: Special Collections in the Digital Age,” the 49th Annual RBMS Preconference, Los Angeles, CA, June 24-27, 2008.
- “From Here to Ephemerality: Fugitive Sources in Libraries, Archives, and Museums,” the 48th Annual RBMS Preconference, Baltimore, MD, June 19-22, 2007.
- “Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Twenty-First Century: Intersecting Missions, Converging Futures?” the 47th Annual RBMS Preconference, Austin, TX, June 20-23, 2006.
- “Bridging the Gap: Education and Special Collections,” the 46th Annual RBMS Preconference, St. Louis, MO, June 21-24, 2005.
- “Ebb & Flow: The Migration of Collections to and from American Libraries,” the 45th Annual RBMS Preconference, Yale University, New Haven, CT, June 21-24, 2004.
- “TRUE/FALSE: Facsimiles, Fakes, Forgeries and Issues of Authenticity in Special Collections ,”the 44th Annual RBMS Preconference, Toronto, Canada, June 17-20, 2003.
- “New Occasions, New Duties: Changing Roles and Expectations in Special Collections,” the 43rd Annual RBMS Preconference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 11-14, 2002.
- “The Twentieth Century,” the 42nd Annual RBMS Preconference, San Francisco & Berkeley, California, June 12-15, 2001.
- “Beyond Words: Visual Information in Special Collections,” the 41st RBMS Preconference, Chicago, July 5-7, 2000.
- “Border Crossings: Exploring New Territories for Special Collections,” the 40th RBMS Preconference, Montreal, 1999
- “Getting Ready for the Nineteenth Century: Strategies and Solutions for Rare Book and Special Collections Librarians,” the 39th RBMS Preconference, Washington, 1998.
- “Rereading the Past: New Methodologies and Approaches to the History of the Book,” the 38th RBMS Preconference, Claremont, California, June 24-27, 1997.
- “Getting There From Here: Setting the Agenda for Special Collections in the 21st Century,” the 37th RBMS Preconference, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, July 2-5, 1996.
Proceedings of several RBMS Preconferences have been published; please see the "Publications" section of the Web site for details.
Past RBMS/ALA Annual Conference Programs
- “Action! Setting Preservation Priorities and Ensuring Access to Your Moving Image Collections,” at the ALA Annual Conference, Sunday, in Anaheim, CA, June 29, 2008.
- “Collecting World Cultures: African, Asian, Caribbean, and Native American Materials in Chicago Institutions,” at the 2005 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL, June 26, 2005. [PDF]
RBMS Preconference Scholarship Program Assessment
At the request of the ACRL Board, RBMS conducted an assessment of the impact of its preconference scholarship program assessment on membership recruitment and retention. The report is available for download as a Word document.
RBMS/ALA Annual and Midwinter Meeting Schedules
- 2010 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2010 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2009 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2009 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2008 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2008 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2007 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2007 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2006 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2006 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2005 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2005 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2004 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2004 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2003 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2003 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2002 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2002 Midwinter Meeting Schedule
- 2001 Annual Meeting Schedule
- 2000 Midwinter Meeting Schedule