LITA National Institutes Survey

[Lynne D. Lysiak]

Your input is solicited to help LITA (Library and Information
Technology Association) plan national institutes.

LITA has decided not to hold full-scale national conferences every two to
three years.  There is significant interest in replacing these conferences
with annual, high quality, two-day institutes focused on a "hot" topic in
library technology.  The LITA Board is seeking further information which
will help select appealing models, topics and locales for these national
institutes.

To assess potential attendees' preferences in developing such programs,
LITA's Program Planning Committee is distributing this questionnaire via
email to LITA-L, LIBADMIN, WEB4LIB, WEBCAT-L, AUTOCAT,
PACS-L, and ASIS-L.

Please respond via email to lysiakld at appstate.edu by August 31, 1997. 
Results will be tallied and reported to President Linda Miller before the
LITA Executive Committee meeting in Chicago, September 22, 1997.

Thanks in advance for your responses,
LITA's Program Planning Committee

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               LITA NATIONAL INSTITUTES SURVEY
                         AUGUST, 1997


TOPICS:

Please rank each of the following topics according to your interest level
for attending a LITA National Institute: (1=most interest, 5=least interest)

___ Information technology policy issues (filtering,
        Communications Decency Act, etc.)
___ Client-server technology transitions
___ Intelligent agent software
___ Latest technology "hot topics" (including vendor demonstrations)
___ Copyright/fair use of digital information
___ Digital resources: purchase/licensing/integration with print resources
___ Internet issues (including international level)
___ Metadata
___ Z39.50
___ Web administration
___ Other (please specify):

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MODELS:

Several models of formats for LITA National Institutes are being
considered in light of factors that affect attendance at professional
meetings such as travel time, cost, potential discounts, meeting length and
disrupted work weeks. Please indicate which of the following options are
most appealing to you in deciding to attend a LITA National Institute:

Please indicate which of the following schedule options you prefer for a
LITA National Institute (select one):

___ Weekend Institute (little work disruption) 
___ Weekday Institute 
___ Weekday/weekend Institute (Saturday night stay over for airfare)
___ Other (please specify):
___ Doesn't matter

Please indicate your preferred time of year for attending a LITA National
Institute (select one):

___ Summer
___ Fall
___ Winter
___ Spring
___ Doesn't matter

Please indicate which of the following site options you prefer for a LITA
National Institute (select one):

___ Airport hotel/conference center (minimizes travel time/cost and
     emphasizes the working nature of the meeting) 
___ Downtown hotel (provides off-hours opportunities and dining diversity)
___ Other (please specify):
___ Doesn't matter

Please indicate which of the following activities options you prefer for a
LITA National Institute (select one):

___ No off time recreational activities scheduled 
___ Off hours scheduled activities
___ Other (please specify):
___ Doesn't matter

Please indicate which of the following location options you prefer for a
LITA National Institute (select one):

___ Location offers cultural opportunities
___ Location offers family-oriented recreational opportunities
___ Location offers developmental opportunities 
___ Other (please specify):
___ Doesn't matter


Other models: (please specify):


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SITES:

The National Institutes are expected to have fewer than 600 registrants for 
each meeting.  With that expectation, second-tier cities, nodes for major 
airlines, can serve well to provide travel and hotel discounts.  Please
indicate which one of the following possibilities is the most attractive:
 
___  Maintain a permanent single city location for annual LITA National
       Institutes.
       suggestion for city:

___  Rotate bicoastal city locations for a two-year cycle.
       suggestions for two cities:

___  Rotate city locations--east, middle, west--for a three-year cycle 
       using the same three cities.
       suggestions for three cities:

___  Locate the annual National Institute in a different city each year
       suggestions:

___  Other (please specify):


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REGISTRATION FEES:

Institute registration fees can be designed to include lunch and break food
and beverages.   Please indicate your preference for registration fees
(select one):

___ Include lunch and breaks in registration fees
___ Do not include lunch and breaks in registration fees
___ Include breaks only in registration fees
___ Doesn't matter

The National Institutes are conceived as two day meetings focused on a 
current, "hot" library automation topic.  National-level high profile
speakers will be the presenters. Please indicate the highest registration fee
for this type of quality meeting that you consider affordable to attend
(excluding food, beverages and lodging):

___ $200-249
___ $250-299
___ $300-349
___ $350-399
___ $400-449
___ Other (please specify):

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Of the following six factors, please rank the order of factors for you in
determining attendance at a LITA National Institute: (1=most important,
6=least important)

___ Format of meeting
___ Location
___ Overall travel/lodging cost
___ Registration fee 
___ Topic
___ Well known speakers

Please rate the likelihood that you would regularly expect to attend a
LITA National Institute, providing that it addressed most of your strong 
preferences above: (1=most likely to attend regularly, 5=unlikely to 
attend)      _____
                  
Please indicate your memberships:
___ LITA
___ ALA (non LITA)
___ ASIS
___ Other: (please specify)

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Additional Comments:




Thanks for your participation!  

Please forward your response via email by August 31, 1997 to:
              lysiakld at appstate.edu