I received a message from a colleague that indicates CoOL will be moving to AIC.  Apparently Stanford has agreed to turn over the content and control of CoOL and the Conservation DistList to AIC.  The transfer should be taking place very soon.  Updates are to come over the DistList so stay tuned.

News came over the Museum-L listserv late last week that Stanford University will no longer be hosting CoOL (Conservation Online) and the Conservation Distlist.  Both of these resources are used by many folks as places to find out the latest information on conservation and preservation related issues.

Below is more information:

ate: 10 Jun 2009
From: Catherine Tierney <ctierney [at] stanford__edu>
Subject: CoOL and the Conservation DistList

Dear Colleagues,

This is a difficult posting to write.  For twenty two years, it has been Stanford University Libraries’ great pleasure to serve and support the conservation community by hosting Conservation OnLine.
Sadly, Stanford—like so many other institutions—has been hurt by the economy.  As a result, we have had to make difficult choices. It is with deep regret that I inform you that we are no longer able to support CoOL.  We feel it is important to alert you to this change as we are aware that so many of you rely on the distribution list as a medium of communication; there are still a number of things to be worked out.

<URL:http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june17/layoffs-061709.html>

Catherine Tierney
Associate University Librarian for Technical Services Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources

——————————

Date: 10 Jun 2009
From: Walter Henry <request [at] cool__stanford__edu>
Subject: CoOL and the Conservation DistList

It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work with this community and I look forward to finding ways to continue to do so.
I’ve always held that conservation professionals were, as a class, unusually committed to the cause they serve; we really do care deeply about the cultural materials we are lucky enough to work with, and that care takes form in a remarkable dedication to the profession, to the ethical foundations upon which it is built, and to the community of practitioners from whatever discipline or specialty.

So, at the beginning of what would have been the DistList’s twenty third year it is with great sadness, but also with some sense of pride, that I finally give up this enterprise and that of Conservation OnLine as a whole.  I don’t know exactly what will happen to the resources here but I have every faith that their fate will be in good hands.

I would like to thank, with all sincerity, Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources, my own department, the systems and IT staff, and most of all the directorate, who have been unfalteringly supportive of my work all these years, and I know would continue to be so were the world in just a little better shape than it is now.

As DistList tradition demands, I leave you a final accounting:  As of this day, the Conservation DistList comprises 9696 people from at least 91 countries. Conservation OnLine contains, at a very rough guess, 120,000 documents, possibly quite a few more.  I hope they have been useful to you all, and I hope to be of service to you as we move into the future.

onward,
walter