August 8

BHL Exec Call -- August 8, 2013


Agenda Topics:
- Recap (for my benefit) the Steering committee call and discussion of membership
- Update on image licensing discussion Tom Baione and I had with Event Network (based on his group’s work)
- DLF proposal from Connie for BHL hackathon
- New NSF proposal from Rich Pyle asking for BHL support (in exchange for $20/25K / year – see message below, if possible please review the Project Summary document and description attached).
- Other?

On Call: Martin Kalfatovic, Connie Rinaldo, Nancy Gwinn, Susan Fraser

Fundraising discussion - Marin summarized discussion with Tom Baione on the possible collaboration with Event Network , a marketing group that runs several museum shops around the country(world?), as well as making products such as notecards, postcards, magnets, for the shops. They were interested in the available content on the BHL . We will investigate this possibility at the next level and agree that we will need an opt in clause should this arrangement not be agreeable to any individual member institution. We will also need a lead partner on the venture since BHL is not "incorporated". All revenue would go to the BHL. The is opportunity for co-branding. Will get sample contracts.

Connie submitted a proposal for a timeslot at the Digital Library Federation meeting in Austin, TX in November. The proposal was prepared by Connie, Trish and Bianca and the presentation will be about how to do a better job on getting taxonomic history when searching BHL. THe DLF recommended they collaborate with the DPLA. Connie spoke with
Amy Rudersdorf(DPLA) but not sure how that collaboration might go. William offered his assistance if needed.

There was a brief discussion of the previous week Steering Commitee Call (see minutes on wiki) with a quick approval of the new Membership document. Connie agreed to finalize the suggested changes and the now final document will be ready for use.

Richard Pyle requested that BHL collaborate on an NSF proposal that he is about to submit to the NSF. The group was asked to review the proposal and approve BHL participation in a few short days. We are not sure how this will impact BHL staff in terms of time and project priorities. Rich offered between $20 and $25K per year to BHL to support Mike Lichtenberg which would cover less that 1/4 of his time. We will review the proposal and send it to the technical advisory committee for review so we know what we are committing to. There is no salary for Mike beyond 2014 so this might help but we need to fully understand our role in the project.

Nancy leaves for Cambodia and SIngapore this week. She will be meeting with Nigel Taylor at the Singapore Botanic Garden and hopes they will sign the permission form to allow BHL to scan 3 or 3 of their journal titles. She will also meet with Elaine Eng(?) the Director of the National Library to discuss the possibility of creating an Asian node of BHL.

Connie reported that Harvard MCZ scanned several SANBI titles and they are now in BHL (Tagged SANBI) so BHL Africa is now represented. Anne-Lise sent a message to our African colleagues and it was met with cheers!

The IA leadership forum may be in Boston (instead of SF) this year. Perhaps we can consider holding a BHL meeting in conjunction.

Susan suggested that we present an Executive Summary to the Steering Committee, of all the technical projects that BHL is involved in. Although these projects are sometimes discussed individually, they are not discussed in the context of the whole and how it impacts on the time and other resources of the team. Although there is a project list that corresponds to the approved budget it would be helpful to have an Executive Summary and a further discussion of all current projects and give us the opportunity to re-prioritize if necessary.