BHL Program Director, Martin R. Kalfatovic, attended the 2017 American Libraries Association Annual Conference in Chicago, IL during the week of 22-26 June 2017. In this post, he provides an update on BHL activities at the conference.

BHL activities at the 2017 American Libraries Association Annual Conference

Russel (left) & Kalfatovic (right)

Diana Duncan

Esquivel (left) & Rehbein (right)

A highlight of the Conference was visiting the ALA Poster Sessions and talking with the BHL National Digital Stewardship Residents who presented a poster on 25 June entitled “Improving Access to the Biodiversity Heritage Library: Halfway Remarks by National Digital Stewardship Residents”. Ariadne Rehbein (based at the Missouri Botanical Garden) and Alicia Esquivel (Chicago Botanic Garden) presented the poster on behalf of their fellow NDSR residents (Marissa Kings, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Pamela McClanahan, Smithsonian Libraries; and Katie Mika, Ernst Mayr Library at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology). NDSR mentor, Leora Siegel (Senior Director, Lenhardt Library at the Chicago Botanic Garden) also dropped by the poster session. Read more about the Residents in Chicago in BHL NDSR at ALA.

OCLC 50th Anniversary Celebration
Attending the OCLC 50th Anniversary Celebration in the spectacular setting of the Adler Planetarium provided an excellent opportunity to speak with colleagues from around the country as well as senior OCLC staff.

Internet Archive at ALA
I also attended a session organized by the Internet Archive to hear the team discuss OpenLibraries — a project that will enable every US library to become a more digital library. The goal is to work with library partners and organizations to bring 4 million books online, through purchase or digitization, starting with the century of books missing from our digital shelves. The plan includes at-scale circulation of these e-books, enabling libraries owning the physical works to lend digital copies to their patrons. This will enable thousands of libraries to unlock their analog collections for a new generation of learners, enabling free, long-term, public access to knowledge. I also had a chance after the session to catch up with long-time BHL supporter Brewster Kahle and Wendy Hanamura (Director of Partnerships at the Internet Archive and lead for the Internet Archives’ partnership as a BHL Affiliate).

Hanamura (left) & Kahle (right)