Best wishes to all colleagues for a very happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year from the IAML President!

[Previously posted on IAML-L]

Dear All,

Greetings from New York, where we had snow earlier in the week and tomorrow it is predicted to be close to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius). Fickle weather!

I am writing with a brief update on IAML activities. Much has been going on since my last update in late September, and here are a few highlights:

* A survey regarding IAML and its activities was widely distributed in early October, and over 300 people responded. A summary of the results will be sent to the membership in January. We have already learned a great deal from it.

* Following up on the vote at Council in Vienna to change IAML from a three-tiered structure (General Assembly, Council, and Board) to a two-tiered structure (General Assembly and Board), the committee drafting a revision of IAML's Constitution and Rules of Procedure and Order accordingly has been hard at work. The principles have been established, and a first draft is almost complete. The membership will see a draft in the first months of 2014, in advance of a discussion and vote at the IAML conference in Antwerp next summer (13-18 July 2014).

* Work on the redesigned IAML website is well underway now, and you will see the results in 2014.

* Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi and I, among others, were invited to the 1o Congresso Brasileiro de Pesquisa e Sistemas de Informação em Música (AIBM/IAML-2013)/First Brazilian Congress of Research and Information Systems in Music (AIBM/IAML-2013) in Brasilia, 21-23 October 2013. I gave a presentation about IAML (and I must acknowledge my gratitude to Pia Shekhter for her assistance in helping me to prepare it), and Massimo spoke about challenges and tools for music librarians, and gave a lot of good advice about getting involved in professional activities and why this is so important. It was clear that the attenders could have listened to him all day. Furthermore, our Brazilian colleagues are working hard to establish IAML-Brazil, a new national branch, which will be a very welcome addition to our association.

* As reported by Pia on IAML-L, several IAML members (Jürgen Diet, Rupert Ridgewell, Pia Shekhter, Jennifer Ward, and me) were invited to a conference in November at the Ewha Womans [sic] University in Seoul called Keeping Music Alive: Innovative Approaches to Music Documentation and Interpretation. See here for Pia's report and some pictures of delicious Korean meals! Both this conference and the one in Brazil afford excellent opportunities to learn about music librarianship and documentation in Latin America and Asia.

* Stay tuned for news on the Advocacy Committee discussed in Council in Vienna last summer. More coming on this early in 2014.

* And, as ever, work is proceeding in the preparation of annual IAML conferences in 2014 (Antwerp) and 2015 (New York, to be held jointly with IMS).

Best wishes to all colleagues for a very happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year.

Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie,
IAML President