The First Annual ADIT Conference has been hold in St. Petersburg, in the State Ethnographic Museum 19 - 23 May 1997.

The Russian Scientific Foundation and Open Society Institute have sponsored the Conference.

About 150 participants from federal and regional Museums all over the Russia, Scientific Institutions, Computer and Technological Institutions (in particular SUN Company) took place in it. Mrs. Monika Hageborn-Soupe from Germany as a CIDOC representative participated in the Conference. All the participants were equipped with a set of information material that included in particular Bibliography from the CIDOC, MDA, EVA Conferences 1994-1996 Source Books (in English) and the Russian translation of the Memorandum of Understanding.

The focus of the ADIT'97 was on the newest information technologies in Museums.

33 contributions has been presented at 5 keynote sessions:

• computer management systems in federal and regional Museums: practical results,
• new technological approaches in Museum Computer Systems: from local tasks to integrated systems,
• multimedia in Museums and educational programs,
• Internet and Museum Community,
• Museums tomorrow: the ways of development.

Everybody could discuss problems of the mutual interest at the Open Forum.

The Festival of the Russian Museums Projects has been hold in 3 nominations:

• Data base
• Multimedia products
• Telecommunication and Internet

27 projects were awarded.

The Second Annual Conference ADIT'98 will be hold on the basis of the Regional Museum in Ivanovo in May 1998. The CIDOC members are invited to participate in ADIT'98.