Barcelona / Ljubljana 29th May 2014 

Dear Colleagues,    

Last week (22-24 May 2014) we had the splendid Conference in Ljubljana. This 19th Conference was a turning point in the existence of our Map Expert Group/Groupe des CartothŽcaires (GdC). As you may know, the new strategyproposed by LIBER to face the 21st century has not included Expert Groups anymore. On December 2012 all LIBER Expert Groups were closed (Manuscript Experts and Security Network have joined the CERL-Consortium of European Research Libraries).

The Map Expert Group Board decided to go on with the Conference in Ljubljana in order to discuss the future placement of the Group. In the meanwhile we were looking for other possibilities i.e. the possibility to join an ÒumbrellaÓ organization.

The nature of cartographic materials we are dealing with turned our focus to the world of cartography, with a particular interest to the ICA-International Cartographic Association and especially to the ICA Commission on Digital Technologies in Cartographic Heritage. The Chair of this ICA Commission, Evangelos Livieratos accepted our invitation to attend the Ljubljana Conference and informed us about the possibility for an association of our Group with this ICA Commission, keeping our Group's independence regarding the organization of its activities. He also pointed out that two, out of five, Terms of Reference of this Commission are relevant to the objectives of our Group.

We considered this form of cooperation interesting for the future of our Group taking into account the support offered by the ICA Commission to have a separate set of web pages within the Commission's web site. Another advantage of an association with this ICA Commission was the possibility for our Group members to submit and publish articles in the peer-reviewed International Web Journal e-Perimetron relevant to the work and interests of our Group. This journal is in close relation with the ICA Commission on Digital Technologies in Cartographic Heritage.

During the Ljubljana General Assembly of our Group the following decisions were adopted:

1.  A new International Group (not only strictly European as it was before) is formed under the name: Map & Geoinformation Curators Group, in acronym: MAGIC. The Logo will be designed on ideas and suggestions given by the Group members, which should be sent to the Board asap;

2.  MAGIC is associated with the ICA Commission on Digital Technologies in Cartographic Heritage; the relevant links for this association will be established soon;  

3.  The MAGIC Terms of Reference are to be focused mainly on: the improvement of the collection development, cataloguing, new services and new technologies, access and preservation;  

4.  MAGIC would achieve soon its international character, although at a first phase the majority of membership is European. The Board proposed to establish contacts and relations with other national and international map curators groups;  

5.  MAGIC is open to all types of map collections kept in libraries as well as in archives, museums and any other relevant institutions.

The National Library of Latvia will be the organizer of the next MAGIC Conference at Riga. We hope to strengthen the renewed Group there.  

Remember: see you in RIGA, 2016!  

Please also notice that our partner ICA Commission organises its 9th Workshop Digital Approaches to Cartographic Heritage in Budapest, 4-5 September 2014. We are all invited to participate. The 10th Workshop of the series will be held in Corfu, in May 2015.
The Board members of the new Group will remain as it was with only few changes:   
-  Carme Montaner (Cartographic and Geologic Institute of Catalonia)  
-  Renata Šolar (National and University Library of Slovenia)  
-  Annik Anceau (University of Liege)  
-  Olivier Loiseaux (National Library of France)  
-  Wolfgang Crom (Berlin State Library)- Pending confirmation   
-  Liudmila Zinchuk (Russian State Library)  
-  Marcy Bidney (American Geographical Society Library; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries), our first international member!      
Anyone willing to join the Board is very welcome!      
We need the help from all of you to distribute around the news about the changes. Please, publicise MAGIC to the Map Collections community and to anyone you think that may be interested.  
Last but not least, we are inviting you to visit the new MAGIC website!

 

On behalf of the Board of MAGIC Group,

Carme Montaner (carme.montaner@icgc.cat)

Renata Solar (renata.solar@nuk.uni-lj.si)