Meeting: 2008 BHL Architecture Meeting (19-21 March 2008, Cambridge, MA) & 2008 BHL Institutional Council meeting

In March 2008, BHL staff gathered in Cambridge, MA at the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard) for an important meeting around BHL's technical architecture.

Attendees included:

• Freeland, Chris (BHL/MOBOT)
• Garnett, Tom (BHL)
• Higley, Graham (NHM)
• Leary, Patrick (EOL/MBL)
• Lichtenberg, Mike (MOBOT)
• Mignault, John (NYBG)
• Morris, Paul (Harvard)
• Norton, Cathy (MBLWHOI)
• Payette, Sandy (Fedora Commons)
• Rinaldo, Connie (Harvard)
• Scholz, Henning (Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin)
• Schopf, Jennifer (EOL)
• Thomson, Neil (NHM)
• Warnement, Judy (Harvard Botany) 
• Wendler, Robin (Harvard)

Key agenda items were discussions around the use of Fedora as a repository for BHL content. Chris Freeland provided an overview of the BHL applications, staff from the Encyclopedia of Life discussed possible integrations, and development desiderata were explored.

The planning work on BHL Europe as well as other international partners and their impact on BHL technology were covered.

The out of town group all stayed at the Sheraton Commander in Cambridge. The "She-Raton" was a regular haunt for BHL meetings in Cambridge. One of my favorite photos is below, capturing participants walking from the Commander to the Museum of Comparative Zoology. I call it, "March of the Bioinformaticians".

March of the Bioinformaticians

Following the Architecture Meeting, there was a meeting of the BHL Institutional Council on 21 March, also held at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge Massachusetts, led by the BHL Executive Committee, Graham Higley (Chair), Cathy Norton (Vice-Chair), and Connie Rinaldo (Secretary).

Meeting: 2012 BHL Institutional Council Meeting (15-16 March 2012, Cambridge, MA), Changing of the Guard

The 2012 BHL Institutional Council meeting, held at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, was a landmark for many reasons.

In addition to the usual reports from the BHL membership and BHL staff members (Tom Garnett, Chris Freeland, Grace Costantino, and Bianca Crowley) there was a report on the "Life and Literature" conference held the previous fall at The Field Museum in Chicago.

There were also discussions of the strategic plan as well as spending plans.

Included tours of the Mayr Library collections and a celebratory dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club.

As Deputy BHL Program Director, I gave a presentation that focused on the contributions of Smithsonian Libraries to the BHL. 

• Kalfatovic, M. (2012, March 15). Smithsonian Libraries & The Biodiversity Heritage Library: 2004 - 2012. 2012 BHL Institutional Council Meeting, Cambridge, MA (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18903011

Changing of the Guard

This meeting also saw significant changes to the leadership of BHL which were the topics of discussion by the BHL Steering Committee.

Cathy, Tom, Graham with custom BHL vests

The original Executive Committee (Graham Higley, NHM London, Cathy Norton, MBLWHOI Library, and Constance Rinaldo, MCZ Harvard) stepped down or into new roles. This was also the last meeting of Tom Garnett as BHL Program Director as he stepped down to retire. It was at this meeting that I was appointed BHL Program Director, officially taking up the role in a few weeks.

It would also turn out to be the last BHL meeting for Chris Freeland as Technical Director as he took a new position at Washington University later in the year.

Connie, Tom, and Cathy

Tom at the Blackboard

Graham and Nancy Gwinn, Smithsonian Libraries

Group photo on the steps of the MCZ