Among the special guests at EUUG were left to right: JOHN DICKSON (SirsiDynix, Huntsville), STEVE SLOAN (University of New Brunswick), SLAVKO MANOJLOVICH (Memorial University of Newfoundland), LIANNE JOHNS (University of the West of England and EUUG Treasurer), LAURENCE LOCKTON (University of Bath and EUUG Chair), and NEIL MCVICAR (Glasgow Caledonian University).

Recently, 71 delegates from 57 customer sites gathered for the European Unicorn Users’ Group conference at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. A high-pressure system provided blue skies and a comfortable temperature for the two days in September. The conference was opened with a welcome from Dr. Louise Garden, director of Learning Resources at the university.

Slavko Manojlovich (Memorial University of Newfoundland) and Steve Sloan (University of New Brunswick) had been invited over from Canada to give the first keynote presentation. With great enthusiasm, they described the successful development of the Atlantic Scholarly Information Network Portal, incorporating SirsiDynix Rooms, SingleSearch, and Resolver, as well as Relais ILL and EZproxy. John Dickson, SirsiDynix vice president of Engineering, followed with an update on forthcoming enhancements to Unicorn and future developments in the SirsiDynix product range. Slavko returned to the lectern to deliver "Unicorn Indexing and Search/Retrieval: the Basics." A refresher for some, and new insight to others, this briefing was well received by all.

Peter Gethin, SirsiDynix managing director for EMEA, closed the first day's proceedings with a roundup of company news from the region. In the evening SirsiDynix sponsored a reception in the Millennium Hotel in the centre of Glasgow, which was followed by the conference dinner and conversation into the early hours.

Attendees enjoy a break and a chance to interact with one another.

On the second day, delegates chose from 10 customer presentations, some with contributions by SirsiDynix personnel, on a wide range of topics. These are typically descriptions of projects such as the implementations of modules or custom development. The programme and PowerPoint presentations can be seen on the EUUG Web site at www.euug.org.uk. Between these events, delegates were able to marvel at the university's new Saltire Centre, which as the Web site (www.gcal.ac.uk/thesaltirecentre) says, is one of the most ambitious and innovative learning environments in the UK.