Medford, NJ, July 9, 1999—A unique celebration was in store for the attendees of the 1999 National Online Meeting. The office of the Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, presented a proclamation that declared May 17-21, 1999, “National Online Meeting Week” to honor the meeting on its 20th Anniversary. Among the other special items at the conference were a 1950’s style “Cyber Cafe” sponsored by LEXIS-NEXIS, a retrospective display of the online industry over the past 20 years, an anniversary party, and much more. With over 5,500 present to celebrate and learn, this comprehensive conference and exhibition was once again the premier event on the information industry calendar.

The theme for the National Online Meeting program was “Online Continues in Transition,” and was chaired by Martha E. Williams. Online industry professionals presented information about online databases, the Internet, CD-ROMs and library systems through three simultaneous tracks. The exhibition portion of the National Online Meeting allowed attendees to view cutting-edge technology and evaluate competing systems firsthand. Product information and demonstrations were also presented by online, CD-ROM and Internet publishers; online service providers; Internet connectivity, software, and services suppliers; library automation and information management systems providers; and more.

The Integrated Online Library Systems (IOLS) conference was also held in conjunction with the National Online Meeting. The 1999 theme for IOLS, “Prepared for the Future,” was led by chairwoman Pamela Cibbarelli and focused specifically on how online products and services are implemented in libraries. A shared a mutual goal of helping the end user with the full array of information services makes this an appropriate match with the National Online Meeting.

In addition to the National Online Meeting and IOLS general session tracks, Electronic Publishing  XVII, a seminar sponsored by the Software and Information Industry Association and Information Today, Inc., was also held. Titled “Publishing, Pricing, and Portals: The Portal of My Enemy Is My Enemy, ” this management seminar covered the present and future of electronic publishing.

The National Online Meeting is managed by Information Today, Inc., publishers of Information Today, Computers in Libraries, MultiMedia Schools, Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals, and Link-Up. Information Today, Inc. also the organizes and sponsors the annual Internet Librarian, Internet Librarian & Libtech International, and Computers in Libraries conferences. For more information or to inquire about events please call (609) 654-6266.
 

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