Meeting: Retooling Special Collections Digitisation in the Age of Mass Scanning (20-21 April 2008, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia)

In 2008, Harvard University Botany Libraries and the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology led an IMLS National Leadership Grant ($40,000), "Retooling Special Collections Digitisation in the Age of Mass Scanning", to look at new ways to increase digitization output, especially for special collections:

• The Harvard University Botany Libraries and the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, along with the partner institution libraries of the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, the Missouri Botanical Garden, The New York Botanical Garden, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Internet Archive, will plan a cost-effective and efficient large-scale digitization workflow with enhanced metadata for biodiversity library materials designated as “special collections.” The partners propose to identify solutions for digitization of special collections materials by developing and comparing various technological, economic, and process models. -- IMLS Grant: LG-50-08-0058-08

On 20-21 April 2008, a meeting was held at the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia) to work on deliverables for the grant. See article cited below for outcomes.

As with all BHL meetings, there was also an opportunity to visit library and museum collections.

Participants in the meeting included:

• Constance Rinaldo (Harvard, MCZ and project lead)
• Judith Warnement (Harvard Botany Library)
• Tom Baione (American Museum of Natural History)
• Martin R. Kalfatovic (Smithsonian/BHL)
• Susan Fraser (New York Botanical Garden)
• Doug Holland (Missouri Botanical Garden)
• Robert Miller (Internet Archive)
• Eileen Matthias (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia)d

See also the related publication:

• "Retooling Special Collections Digitisation in the Age of Mass Scanning," with Constance Rinaldo, Judith Warnement, Tom Baione, and Susan Fraser. Ariadne. Issue 67, July 2011. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue67/rinaldo-et-al/ 

Meeting: 2004 WebWise (3-5 March 2004, Chicago), some BHL Prehistory

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. 

2004’s “WebWise 2004: Sharing Digital Resources”, held 3-5 March 2004 in Chicago, was of particular importance for the after-hours session where ideas about what a digital biodiversity library might look like. 

Along with Doug Holland (Missouri Botanical Garden, later Secretary of the BHL Executive Committee), Chris Freeland (Missouri Botanical Garden), Suzanne Pilsk (Smithsonian), and I did a classic napkin sketch of a digital library for biodiversity in the lounge of the Hotel Intercontinental, Chicago.

At right, table and couch in the Intercontinental Hotel, Chicago, where, at Webwise 2004, BHL was partly born (picture from 2009). 

At a recent visit to Chicago in 2024, I stopped by the lounge, but it has been renovated out of existence.

Some Resources

• First Monday. Volume 9, Number 5 - 3 May 2004. Archived Papers

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 2004..

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.