Bates College hosts the annual meeting of the Liberal Arts Career NetWORK, a consortium of the career-services operations of 28 selective U.S. liberal arts colleges, from June 15 to June 19.

Some 60 career-services professionals will attend the LACN Summit, which includes committee meetings, presentations and social gatherings.

Founded in 1996, the LACN enhances career, internship and entry-level job opportunities for graduates and alumni of its member institutions through cooperative innovations in technology. Its efforts include a shared database of 20,000 summer jobs and internships accessible over the Internet.

“Our aim is to offer highly innovative, technology-enhanced career resources and services that give our students a competitive edge in the global marketplace,” says A. Charles Kovacs, director of the Office of Career Services at Bates.

“Students and employers see the Web as a primary means of discovering and responding to employment options,” Kovacs continued. “We intend to stay ahead of the curve of the quality offerings in the field. We see our consortium as a trend-setter and even something of a gold standard for career offices” — allowing employers free access to more than 60,000 highly qualified, well-educated and motivated candidates, he added.

The LACN Summit starts Tuesday with a meeting of the executive committee and continues until Friday.

One of the LACN’s more innovative products is Spotlight on Careers, a collection of topical career sites examining popular and cutting-edge career fields from myriad perspectives, including key Web and print resources, and links to employers and internship sponsors. Each school annually updates its site with an eye towards quality and currency.

In addition to Bates, the Liberal Arts Career NetWORK’s member colleges and universities are: Amherst, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Carleton, Clark, Colby, Colgate, Holy Cross, Wooster, Connecticut, Hamilton, Hartwick, Hobart and William Smith, Hope, Macalester, Middlebury, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, St. Lawrence, Skidmore, Smith, Trinity, Union, Vassar, Washington and Lee, Wesleyan and Wellesley.

Additional information on LACN is offered at www.lacn-group.org/ For information about the LACN Summit, please call Kovacs at 207-786-6232.