The goal is the development of a network that will be a focus for docent activities. A docent can be described as a trained volunteer dedicated to furthering the public's understanding of community organizations and their diverse historical and cultural collections.
Docents are lecturers, teachers, educators, and tour guides.
The National Docent Symposium is held every two years. It is hosted in rotating cities and usually lasts three or four days. There are multiple workshops that demonstrate varied techniques to aid docents in the art of imparting knowledge to the public. Whether docents are from museums, zoos, arboretums, or ecological programs, docents find that all organizations have similar successes and problems and the workshops enable that docents come away with new ideas and solutions. The SCDL is pleased to learn of the development of the OCDL and looks forward to joint meetings to coordinate topics for Orange County and Los Angeles County events.