NASIG held its 35th annual conference June 9–11, 2020. Originally planned for Spokane, WA, the conference was held fully online due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The conference featured synchronous sessions held via Zoom and a number of prerecorded sessions. The entire program is available for viewing on NASIG’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvnh_CzXS8YgftuvIypTiQ.
The conference opened with the inspiring keynote session, “Mapping Domain Knowledge for Leading and Managing Change,” by Janetta Waterhouse. A profile of Janetta Waterhouse was featured in volume 35, no. 2 of the NASIG Newsletter. The keynote was followed by challenging and insightful sessions addressing issues critical to librarians and information providers, including open access publishing models, linked data, accessibility, and managing stressed budgets. The conference also featured engaging lightning sessions from conference sponsors
The NASIG Conference continues to be a top venue for the exchange of information and ideas between vendors, publishers, and librarians. Look for this to continue at the 2021 conference which will again focus on issues core to NASIG, including standards, licensing, scholarly communication, workflows, assessment, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in relation to libraries. The 2020 conference was not able to offer poster and other smaller sessions that have proved to be popular over the years. Some of these sessions will return in 2021.
The Proceedings are the collaborative product of many people – speakers, volunteer recorders, guest editors, Taylor & Francis editorial staff, and others. Special thanks are extended to the NASIG Program Planning Committee, chaired by Wendy Robertson and Megan Kilb; the Conference Planning Committee, chaired by Lisa Barricella and Sion Romaine; the Conference Coordinator, Anna Creech; the Board, especially the guest editors’ liaison, Ted Westervelt; and the Taylor & Francis Production Editor, Hannah Wicklein. All of you deserve credit for the contributions you have made toward the success of the NASIG conference and the preservation of the conference record in these Proceedings.
The next NASIG conference will be held online May 17–21, 2021.