History of the LISA Conference Series: A Retrospective

1 History of the LISA Conference series: A Retrospective and Forward Look Monique Gómez (IAC), Soizick Lesteven (CDS) & Uta Grothkopf (ESO) History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 2 Agenda •How it all started •Host institutes LISA 1-10 conferences •What makes the LISA community special? (incl. photo gallery) •Evolution of topics / Role of astronomy librarians •The Future of LISA •PAM Award and Forward Look LISA 11 History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 •1st meeting: 110th Colloquium of the IAU (International Astronomical Union), Washington, DC, USA, 26 July -1 August 1988 •Realized after lots of discussing, lobbying, convincing by librarians and astronomers: Brenda Corbin (USNO), Robyn Shobbrook (AAO), George Wilkins (RGO), Gart Westerhout (USNO)… •Not officially called LISA “I” as nobody knew there would be another meeting. •Marion Schmitz attending 1st LISA meeting and LISA 10 3 How it all started History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 From left to right: Suzanne Laloë, Pascal Dubois, François Ochsenbein, Jean-Louis Halbwachs; Wayne Warren and Joyce Watson at the 20th General Assembly of IAU in Baltimore, in 1988 (following the LISA I meeting) The first connection from the US to France took place on July 28, 1988, to allow American astronomers to access SIMBAD on the occasion of a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Baltimore. The photo above was taken during this demo! 4 Proceedings of IAU Colloquium 110 (LISA I): « The principal purpose of IAU Colloquium No. 110 was to provide an opportunity for librarians of astronomical observatories and institutions to meet to discuss common problems and ways of stimulating greater cooperation between libraries in different countries. Others who were concerned with the provision of astronomical information were also invited to attend so that there could be wide-ranging discussions on most aspects of astronomical documentation. In the planning of the program, particular attention was given to new developments in the use of computers and telecommunication networks, but the needs of librarians and astronomers in institutions without access to such facilities were not overlooked. The original concept of a largely informal workshop had to be modified considerably when it was found that the number of participants would be two to three times larger than had been expected.Nevertheless, the program allowed time for general discussions, and these proved to be lively and useful. » History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 5 Host institutes of LISA 1-10 conferences https://www.eso.org/sci/libraries/lisa.html History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 LISA III 1998 IAC Puerto de la Cruz, Ten., ES LISA II 1995 ESO Garching, DE LISA IV 2002 Ast. Inst. Charles Univ. Prague, CZ LISA VII 2014 Ast. Obs. Capodimonte Naples, IT LISA VI 2010 IUCAA / NCRA Pune, IN LISA V 2006 CfA / MIT Cambridge, MA, US LISA (I) 1988 USNO Washington, DC, US LISA VIII 2017 CDS Strasbourg, FR LISA 9 2021 RAS London, UK / online LISA 10 2025 ESO Santiago, CL LISA I120 26 II 121 26 III 101 23 IV 106 25 V115 22 VI 77 17 VII 93 21 VIII 106 22 IX 184 21 10 78 15 6 What makes the LISA community special? •Astronomy librarians geographically widely distributed, but well connected •Virtual (email) collaboration started very early (1990s) •In-person meetings greatly enhance feeling of community and connection •For many years enabled and supported by the Friends of LISA (FoL) Committee History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 Friends of LISA IV Committee outside the Carolinum at LISA IV, Prague, CZ. Left to right: Brenda Corbin, Ellen Bouton, Ron Enders, Marlene Cummins (Photo from Ellen Bouton) 7 Photo Gallery History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 8 Evolution of topics / Role of Astronomy Librarians History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025 Historical documents Archives Bibliometrics Data curation Libraries Information delivery Data management E-journals Future of publishing VO Standards Information retrieval Tools Publishers Preservation/Digitization Open Science Future of Librarianship Open Access Open Data Repositories Tools, softwares, techniques Data stewardship Metadata AI 9 Evolution of topics / Role of Astronomy Librarians (2) •Astronomy librarians take on many different roles: •“System independent non-database specific information retriever” (Sarah Stevens-Rayburn, former STScI librarian) •Advisors, facilitators, data curators, collaborators, mediators, advocates, builders, initiators… •Responsibilities continuously evolve due to the environment: •internet, techniques, e-publishing, Virtual Observatory, OA/OS, multidisciplinary science… •LISA = Library and Information Services in Astronomy (not Systems!) But knowledge of software, systems, and tools is crucial •Information sharing, collaborative work and exchange of best practices are crucial! History of the LISA Conference Series, M. Gómez, S. Lesteven & U. Grothkopf, LISA 10, Nov. 2025