Charleston Conference
DisciplineAcademic libraries and publishers
Publication details
PublisherKatina Strauch
History1980-present
FrequencyAnnual
Websitewww.charleston-hub.com/the-charleston-conference/
The Francis Marion Hotel, headquarters for the Charleston Conference

The Charleston Conference is an annual event for academic libraries, librarians, and publishers, held in Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States. It focuses on topics such as academic library acquisitions, serials, and library infrastructure and technology.

History

The conference was started in 1980 by Charleston librarian Katina Strauch,[1] under the name "Issues in Book and Serials Acquisition".[2] Strauch started the event after being unable to afford to attend the American Library Association's Annual conference. The first event was attended by two dozen librarians.[3] In 1988, it was renamed the Charleston Conference.[2] The conference was attended by 1,600 people in 2012[3] and nearly 3,000 in 2021.[4]

The first Charleston Conference was held in collaboration with the College of Charleston’s Antiquarian Book Fair in a classroom at the college. As the conference grew, it moved to the college's Lightsey Conference Center in downtown Charleston. In the early 2000s, the conference moved to the Francis Marion Hotel, and in 2005 it expanded to multiple downtown venues including the Francis Marion Hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Historic Charleston and the Charleston Gaillard Center. [4]

As of 2023 the Charleston Hub, which organizes the Charleston Conference, was acquired by the nonprofit publisher Annual Reviews.[5]

Focus

The focus of the Charleston Conference is on acquisition for research and academic libraries, particularly serials and academic books. It also covers library infrastructure topics, such as vendor systems and library technology.[2][6] The conference is one of the only major library conferences in the United States that is independent from a large professional or trade organization.[2]

Each conference tends to have a focus topic, such as open access publishing[7] or the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on collections management.[8][9] Presentations and discussions can address a broad range of issues that affect scholarly publishing and librarianship, including electronic collections, remote learning, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, open research, publishers agreements, workflow technologies, data analytics, standards,[8] copyright law, the U.S. government appropriations process, the impact of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)'s 2022 Nelson Memo,[10] intellectual freedom, disinformation, and legal challenges against libraries.[9]

Publications

The conference is associated with the publication Against the Grain, which began as a newsletter for conference attendees in 1989.[11] Against the Grain has become a periodical for librarians, dealing with a broad range of topics in librarianship including American copyright law.[12]

As of 2000, the Conference published papers from the conference in the form of the Charleston Conference Proceedings.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ Strauch, Katina (15 March 2017). "Charleston Conference". In McDonald, John D.; Levine-Clark, Michael (eds.). Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences. CRC Press. pp. 794–805. ISBN 978-1-000-03154-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Eberhart, George M. (2005). "The 25th Charleston Conference: Books and Serials Face an Uncertain but Exciting Future". American Libraries. 36 (11): 34–35. JSTOR 25649786.
  3. 1 2 Lawrence, Stratton (November 7, 2012). "Charleston Conference to flood downtown with 1,600 bookworms". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  4. 1 2 Hinds, Leah (13 September 2022). "'We're prioritising the in-person event to the highest degree' | Research Information". Research Information.
  5. ↑ "Nonprofit Publisher Annual Reviews Acquires Charleston Hub". NISO Member News. October 10, 2023.
  6. ↑ Strauch, Katina (1 January 1983). "Issues in book and serial acquisitions: Collection development in the eighties: The LAPT report". Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory. 7 (3): 213–214. doi:10.1016/0364-6408(83)90017-0. ISSN 0364-6408.
  7. ↑ Kaufman, Roy (8 December 2022). "Some Observations from Charleston (Open Access Edition)". The Scholarly Kitchen. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 Kubelka, Morgan (December 14, 2021). "Top 10 Trends at Charleston Library Conference 2021". Wiley. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 Peet, Lisa (December 8, 2022). "Access from All Angles: Charleston Conference 2022". Library Journal.
  10. ↑ White, Meg (30 November 2022). "News & Views: The Nelson Memo – Charleston Perspectives". Delta Think. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "History of Against the Grain". Charleston Hub.
  12. ↑ Gasaway, Laura N. (2013). Copyright Questions and Answers for Information Professionals: From the Columns of Against the Grain. Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-639-6.
  13. ↑ Strauch, Katina P. (2001). Charleston Conference Proceedings, 2001. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 978-1-59158-073-7.
  14. ↑ "Charleston Conference Proceedings on JSTOR". www.jstor.org. JSTOR j.ctvh9vzw8. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
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