Update from the IAML President

Dear IAML Colleagues,

It has been five months since many of us met at the wonderful IAML Conference in Montreal. I hope that you returned home refreshed and stimulated. These conferences are especially valuable for making new contacts and for renewing old friendships. The opportunity to meet and talk in person, rather than via some electronic medium, is one that we treasure, and hope will continue.

Elections 2013
Over the past few months the Board has been preparing for our first electronic elections in 2013. For this to be successful, every IAML member - individual and corporate - must have a valid email address on the membership database. If you are a member of a National Branch, please ensure that your Branch Secretary has your email address and that it has been forwarded to our Treasurer. Detailed voting instructions will be sent out next year, but it is very important that we have your email address. Without this, you will not be able to vote online.

Guidelines
Our Secretary, Pia Shekhter, is busy updating the many guidelines we have for various parts of IAML business. This is important, as small changes are continuously suggested and if they not acted upon at the time, can easily be forgotten.
If you see anything in a Guideline that you believe is out-dated, please let Pia know.

JSTOR
We have now signed a contract with JSTOR which will provide for the digitisation of the complete run of Fontes Artis Musicae. The cost of this big project is borne by JSTOR, and IAML members who do not have JSTOR access through their institutions, will be able to access Fontes full text via the IAML website. This is a major step forward to the idea of "electronic" Fontes and will make our fine journal more widely available.

Armenia
In November, Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi represented IAML at a conference of music librarians in Yerevan, Armenia, organised by Ruzan Tonoyan. He reported that it was a very interesting and productive conference, attended not only by Armenian colleagues, but also by others from countries of the area, such as Georgia and Iran. Our Armenian colleagues are thinking of repeating the experience regularly, extending it to neighbour states and beyond, and they will try to establish a national or regional IAML branch. These are exciting times, as there are also moves to establish new branches elsewhere. IAML will do everything it can to assist.

Natural disasters

In 2012 natural disasters have again affected many of our members, in particular Hurricane Sandy which devastated portions of the Caribbean, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeastern United States. It affected 24 states, causing $63 billion dollars-worth of damage. New York and New Jersey suffered severe damage. To any of our IAML colleagues and their families affected by this and many other events worldwide, we offer our sincere condolences and hope that 2013 will be a brighter and safer year.

Future Conferences

On a happier note, we look forward to conferences in Vienna (2013), Antwerp (2014) and New York (2015). I know that various committees are already working hard to ensure that each conference will be a great event. Stanisław Hrabia and the Programme Committee are already creating another excellent week of papers and sessions for Vienna next year.

Now, all that remains for me to say is:

• Season's Greetings and my very best wishes for a happy and peaceful New Year!
• Joyeuses Fêtes et Bonne Année!
• Schöne Festtage und ein glückliches neues Jahr!
• Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!

Best wishes,

Roger Flury
President
International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML)