During the final symposium session of the XVI International Botanical Congress in St. Louis on Saturday, 7 August 1999, a group of botanists, librarians and archivists will speak about the critical need to preserve the record of botanical science, both past and present. 'De symposium is sponsored by the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL), and co-sponsored by the Historical Section of the Botanical Society of America.

Speakers will address such issues as the changing documentary record in botany; the increasing use of electronic information; the need for botanical documentation; the physical limitations of books, artwork, manuscripts, maps, computer files and other material found in botanical libraries and archives. They will also discuss large-scale preservation strategies that have been recently pursued in several other scientific disciplines, so that botanists can assess the suitability of such strategies for the plant sciences. Following the symposium, the papers will be published, and a future meeting may be convened so that the matters raised can be given a fuller analysis in all botanical disciplines.

Delegates to the IBC are urged to consider attending these talks. Further information is available at < http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/CBHL/symposium.html>, or by contacting Malcolm Beasley <M.Beasley@nhm.ac.uk>, telephone +44 (0) 171 938 8928 (England), or Charlotte Tancin <ctOu@andrew.cmu.edu>, telephone 412-268-7301 (U.S.).