The objectives of the international CoLIS (Conceptions of Library and Information Science) conferences are to critically explore and analyse library and information science as a discipline and as a field of research from historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives. These are organised by people from various universities with an interest in the field as a co-operative international venture. The First CoLIS was held in 1991 at the University of Tampere (Finland) and the second in 1996 at the Royal School of Librarianship, Copenhagen (Denmark). The Third Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science was held in Dubrovnik (Croatia) on 23-26 May 1999. The University of Zagreb, University of Tampere, Royal School of Library and Information Science (Copenhagen), Rutgers University (New Brunswick, USA) were the organisers in co-operation with the American Society for Information Science, the International Federation for Information and Documentation and the University of Pittsburgh. The specific theme of this third conference was Digital Libraries: Interdisciplinary Concepts, Challenges and Opportunities.

Digital libraries are among the conceptual ideas and physically realised structures that are powerfully reaching into the future of libraries in particular and information systems and services in general (1). Therefore, the aim of CoLIS 3 was to critically explore the evolving concepts, research, development and practice related to digital libraries from the perspective of different approaches and disciplines. More then 100 participants from 20 countries (Europe, Australia, USA, Africa) attended the conference and the invited speakers were Michael Buckland, Rafael Capurro and Denis McQuail. The Conference offered a comprehensive view on a number of questions provoked by the advent of the digital library. It began by exploring the CONTEXT, with M. Buckland speaking about vocabulary as a central point in library and information science and C. Borgman`s questioning on what are digital libraries, who is building them and why. The aspects of RELATIONS (R. Capurro, P. Sturges), EVALUATION (W. Dole, J. Reid), MANAGEMENT (C. Dugdale, R. Hayes), DESIGN (P. Doty, S. Erdelez) and INTERACTION (E. Fox, P. Hensen, N. Pharo) were widely discussed and the conference ended with the social science perspective on the future of communication (D. McQuail).

There was also an interesting poster session (Digital Library Conceptions & Applications), as well as a preconference tutorial (Digital libraries: an overview, held by Ed Fox, USA) and two postconference workshops (Developing a small-scale digital library with Adobe Acrobat, run by S. Erdelez and P. Dotty, USA, and Metrics and evaluation of the digital library run by Ed Fox, USA).

The proceedings can be ordered at the price of USD 75 (p. and p. included) directly from:

Benja Publishing, P.O.Box 51316 Lokve, Croatia, Phone: ++385-51-453 004, fax: ++385-51-454 604, benja@ri.tel.hr

Contents can be browsed at http://www.colis3.hr/proceed.htm

Literature:

1. Saracevic T. Preface. CoLIS 3 Proceedings (http://www.colis3.hr/proceed.htm).

COLIS - 3eme Conférence internationale sur le concept de bibliothèque et les sciences de l'information Croatie, Mai 1999

Les objectifs de la conférence de COLIS sont une exploration critique et une analyse des sciences de bibliothéconomie comme discipline et comme champ de recherche dans une perspective historique, théorique et empirique.

Ces conférences sont organisées par des chercheurs de diverses universités intéressés par un développement de la coopération internationale.

La première conférence de COLIS a eu lieu en Finlande en 1991 à l'Université de Tampere, puis à Copenhagen en 1996 à l'Ecole de Bibliothéconomie. La troisième conférence a eu lieu à Dubrovnik, Croatie, en mai 1999. Les organisateurs de la conférence comprennent l'Université de Zagreb, de Tampere, l'Ecole Royale de Bibliothéconomie de Copenhagen, l'Université de Rutgers en collaboration avec ASIS, la Fédération Internationale pour l'Information et la Documentation, et l'Université de Pittsburgh.

Le but de cette 3ème conférence était d'explorer de manière critique le développement des concepts de recherche en relation avec les bibliothèques digitales selon diverses approches et disciplines. Plusieurs aspects de la communication digitale furent discutés et une perspective sociale sur l'avenir de la communication fut l'objet de la conclusion.

Les comptes-rendus de la conférence peuvent être obtenus directement par Benja Publishing, P.O. Box 51316 Lokve, Croatie pour le prix de 75 US $ ou par benja@ri.tel.hr