Meeting: 2011 WebWise (10-11 March 2011, Baltimore, MD)

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was a key financial supporter for a number of BHL projects. The WebWise conferences, annually hosted by IMLS from 2000-2013 were important venues for meetings of BHL participants, and WebWise 2004 (Chicago) of particular importance for the after-hours session that saw a draft of BHL planned on a napkin.

WebWise 2011 was in nearby (for me), Baltimore, 10-11 March 2011. As per usual, it was an excellent program. There were a number of BHL partner staff in attendance. Featured on a panel was Rebecca Morin, from the California Academy of Sciences (CAS)

The Biodiversity Heritage Library, the world's largest repository of full-text digitized legacy biodiversity literature, has added more than 14,000 records of digitized materials brought together from 12 prestigious institutions to WorldCat. Rebecca A. Morin, User Services Librarian at the California Academy of Sciences will discuss this exciting project as well as a recent IMLS National Leadership grant that CAS has received to develop a system for integrating biological researchers' field and specimen notes, with museum specimens and related electronically published literature. The enhanced and integrated access to biological data will serve a wide variety of users, and will connect to other ongoing projects such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library. -- Rebecca Morin | BHL Partner: California Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Danielle Castronovo (also from The California Academy of Sciences), presents on the project in the open session.

Representatives from a number of BHL partners were also presenting updates on previously funded IMLS projects. This included Connie Rinaldo (MCZ, Harvard) and Judy Warnement (Harvard Botany). Doug Holland and Chris Freeland also presented updates on funded projects.

Resources

• WebWise 2011 Webcasts

About IMLS and WebWise (from the 2011 Site)

The following is a description of the WebWise conference and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), circa 2011.

WebWise 2011

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and in particular their Digital Media and Learning program provided support for this year's conference. Click here to learn more about WebWise, IMLS digital resources and how we bring together representatives of museums, libraries, archives, systems science, education, and other fields to explore the many opportunities made possible by digital technologies.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.

Meeting: BHL Institutional Council meeting (8-9 March 2011, Washington, DC)

At this meeting (which took place 8-9 March 2011 in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Libraries), the governing body of the BHL was termed the BHL Institutional Council. The meeting brought together leaders from most of the BHL partners at the time. At left is the 2nd BHL, designed by staff at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The current logo was introduced on 1 September 2011.

BHL Institutional Council, March 2011

Washington, DC

In my role as BHL Deputy Program Director, I regularly made presentations at the BHL governance meeting. 2011 was important for BHL planning. The "Life and Literature" conference, to be held later in the fall, was being planned. Also, with the initial funding from the MacArthur Foundation running out, plans for what would come next for BHL structure and governance were a major topic (Hibernation, Status Quo, Development and Future Growth). 

• Kalfatovic, M. (2011, March 8). Taking Measure of the Biodiversity Heritage Library: 2003 - 2010. 2011 BHL Institutional Council Meeting, Washington, DC. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18819012

In this presentation, I played on the unofficial tag line, "Extensive.Open.Global" to outline a variety of metrics of success. The tagline was also featured in a video I made the previous September:

Some photos from the meeting: