Over my tenure as AAO Preservation Consultant I have frequently directed 
many of you to the wonderful preservation information resource CoOl 
(Conservation Online) and the conservators discussion list ConsDistList. 
Sadly it was just announced last week that these wonderful resources (22 
years worth of preservation and conservation information) can no longer be 
supported by Stanford University and that the tireless and excellent site 
administrator, Walter Henry, has been let go from his staff position at 
Stanford with an early retirement package.  See the announcements below from 
the last ConsDistList  instance.    It is unfortunate that this has to be 
but Stanford University and Walter deserve a big heart-felt thank you from 
all of us in the heritage field that have benefited so much over the years 
from this excellent information resource and support to the heritage field.

However, the more positive news is that the American Conservation Institute 
and others are working hard to back up the current 22 years worth of 
archived data  from Stanford and to find an alternative place to support the 
CoOl  Web site and hopefully to administer the discussion list.  I will keep 
you posted on any new developments.

Iona McCraith
Preservation Consultant
Archives Association of Ontario
Tel: (705) 277-1309     Fax: (705) 277-2091
Email: [log in to unmask]

_____________________________________________________

Date: 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