THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS REPOSTED FROM CONSERVATION ONLINE FOR YOUR
INFORMATION.

Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (AATA)
to be available as a free online resource

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), in association with the
International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic
Works (IIC), is bringing Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts to
the World Wide Web as a free service to the international
conservation community. When it is publicly launched on June 8,
2002, AATA Online: Abstracts of International Conservation
Literature (<URL:http://www.getty.edu/conservation>) will offer all
36 volumes of Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts and its
predecessor, IIC Abstracts, published between 1955 and the present.
By year end, abstracts from the 20 AATA special supplements and
almost 2,000 abstracts published between 1932 and 1955 by the Fogg
Art Museum and the Freer Gallery of Art will be included as well.
Ultimately, more than 100,000 abstracts related to the preservation
and conservation of material cultural heritage will be accessible in
AATA Online. New abstracts will be added quarterly, as AATA staff
work with subject editors and volunteer abstractors to expand the
breadth, depth, and currency of coverage.

After registering for this free service, users will be able to set a
variety of preferences to tailor the system to their research
interests and needs. The interface provides a number of features
including several simple but powerful search capabilities; the
ability to save user-created search strategies for use in future
sessions; and an on-screen notice of the new abstracts added in the
users' selected areas of interest in the last quarterly update.
Users will be able to download or print out their search results.
The classification scheme and subject category descriptions from the
print version of AATA can also be displayed online for those who
prefer to use this more familiar method of searching.

AATA Online will be introduced to the conservation community at the
American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
(AIC) Annual Meeting in Miami (June 6-11). The site will officially
premiere on June 8. There will be subsequent demonstrations of AATA
Online at the IIC Baltimore Congress 2002 (Sept. 1-6) and at the
ICOM-CC Triennial Meeting in Rio de Janeiro (Sept. 22-28). Delegates
will be able to visit booths in the vendor hall at each of these
conferences to experiment with the new system and to speak with AATA
staff.

In developing AATA Online, GCI staff have devoted time to listening
to the recommendations of the field, convening focus groups,
evaluating the technology, and conducting user testing. Information
gained from these activities will guide the final development of the
resource. Continuing feedback from those members of the field who
have supported AATA will be solicited.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact
the AATA office at [log in to unmask] .

Iona McCraith
AAO Preservation Consultant