Letter to the exhibitors from the President of the AIB Igino Poggiali

I would like first of all to thank those who participated in the first edition of Bibliocom which was held in the Palazzo dei Congressi of EUR on 25-27 October 2000.

As we had already announced, the AIB has decided to establish Bibliocom as an annual event in Rome in the month of October to make it a fundamental appointment for the operators, professional persons, businesses, public and private bodies, professional associations active in the sector of libraries, archives and museums, of information and documentation services, of supply of technology, furnishings, constructions, in cultural publishing and industry, in didactic technology, data bases and knowledge management. We have the support and the participation of various Ministeries among whom those of Education and Cultural Wealth and Activities, of the university and the patronage of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

For its part, AIB holds on the days and in the location of Bibliocom its own annual congress and general assembly.

The considerable presence of foreign businesses and visitors will permit Bibliocom to be certified as an International Fair as from the next edition of the year 2002.

The gratifying results of the first edition which saw the participation of almost three thousand visitors for a total of 4,500 daily attendances, will certainly be exceeded in the next edition for which various companies of the sector have already announced that they will be bringing many novelties in the field of supplies and services and that they will themselves be promoting events in the event. This will make Bibliocom the most important review-convention of the sector in Italy.

AIB is ready to positively evaluate every other form of cooperation that companies may wish to propose. From this year, besides traditional offers included in our agreement proposal, we foresee the presence of an official sponsor of the event. Every year this role will be reserved to non more than three companies, working in different commercial fields. We invite the intersted companies to contact AIB as soon as possible, remembering you that the official programme will be announced at the beginning of May.

In order to maintain attention on our themes throughout the year we are also rationalizing a general calendar of the study and promotion initiatives that the Association is developing throughout the national territory through its various Sections – calendar that will have as its second pilaster, besides Bibliocom, the spring conference that takes place between April and May each year in a different city.

You will find in the dossier a brief documentation of the 2000 edition and the initial information on the programme of the 2001 edition, The latter will characterized by convention and scientific activity of great interest, part of which will be organized and promoted by the businesses and exhibitors who so request.

Our review is thus confirmed as the most important Italian appointment of the sector and one of the most significant in Europe. The shift to the autumn, to a period that is less crowded with events of the sector, the repositioning of the role of the partner companies and the opening to the world of the professions of related sectors (schools, archives, museums, Web, etc.) which has grown enormously in recent years, are the characteristics of this new approach from which we expect further satisfaction for all the subjects involved.

We are also arranging to have a version of Bibliocom to link to the WEB and therefore to offer you the possibility of having, through the AIB, a direct line with your target throughout the year.

I thank you for the confidence that you have demonstrated in our work up to now and I am sure that we will be able to do many other good things together.

I am also obviously grateful to the new friends who decide to join our initiatives and I hope that they will find it interesting and profitable to continue their participation.

The Associazione italiana biblioteche (Italian Libraries Association) has again this year granted the concession for the organization of Bibliocom-Bibliotexpo to Veant s.r.l.

For further information and registration please contact the concessionaire directly: Dr Maria Teresa Natale (organization and public relations, natale@aib.it), Rosalba Faloia, Romeo Tofini (secretary, info@veant.it), c/o Veant s.r.l., via Guido Castelnuovo 35/35a, 00146 Rome, tel. 065599675, fax 065571229.