BHL Institutional Council Conference Call June 20, 2008

Biodiversity Heritage Library Institutional Council
Conference Call June 20, 10 a.m. EST


On the call: Tom G., Jim Edwards., Susan Fraser Judy Warnement, Elizabeth Babcock, Doug Holland, Connie Rinaldo (recorder), Graham Higley, Nancy Gwinn, Cathy Norton
Not available: Tom Baione, Chris Mills

Status of the BHL
1. Scanning

• Got off to a slower start than we had hoped but we are picking up. Over 6 million pages, 15,000 volumes. Smithsonian is just coming online with and scanning is ready to go. For the first few months, Smithsonian will be occupying most of the LC scanning pod. Microsoft funding significant portions of IA scanning operations but is getting out of the business. Good--content of Microsoft had significant restrictions on reuse but it appears that those restrictions are now removed--still need some claification. But if works out, UToronto and UCal biodiversity materials could be ingested into BHL. But it puts IA into a difficult financial position for their operations. IA may be scrambling. Will probably pull through but this announcement was rather sudden.

Tom is monitoring the situation closely.

• Getting scanned content from other providers (publishers)--Journal of Ethnobiology will be evaluated by Tom and Chris to see if it can be loaded relatively easily. Always looking for already scanned materials.
• Susan said NY doesn't seem to get same level of service as other areas--is this due to Microsoft pullout? Tom says yes, push for service and yes they are distracted--scanning center must be moved in NY. Tom will work with Susan on issues like Wonderfetch/issues with foldouts. Susan will join next call with Cathy and Robert.

2. Portal Development

• Incremental improvements since last institutional council meeting. Response time is still slow although some improvement. Next week MOBOT will get an upgrade to AT&T line and this should help. Will migrate portal to Fedora Commons. Positioning BHL in a partnership with Fedora Commons and TOPAZ and IA as migration is planned. Chris will be drafting requirements and specs this summer and fall with the hope to begin move by winter. TROPICOS will be moved first. Funding for migration is coming from Moore Foundation. One overwhelming need: accept, display, download, ingest at the article level as well as the page level. Need to do both and then we can improve usefulness and play in the publisher realm. Some upcoming content (e.g. BIOONE) will be delivered as articles. Need to be able to accept them. Publishers that have already provided content to BHL want the capability of article delivery. As part of Moore grant, will get a mass storage solution for disk management.
• Need to have the data stored somewhere else; Smithsonian has data farm in suburbs of DC and for a small cost we can have BHL server--data, metadata, image data--can be stored there. We may also be able to serve the data from the Smithsonian. May have funding for the hardware. Moving towards a distributed platform. Could also store and serve some or all data from other institutions as well.
• The open source JPEG 2000 server has not been funded by Moore. (Nancy asked).

3. Additional content

• Graham: 2 project bids have been submitted: BHL Europe to fund management of the equivalent of the BHL in Europe (15 Countries signed up) for 6 million Euros. Management is for collection management and work with Chris Freeland on developing a robust multi lingual, multi language front end. London will be leading IT work. Another bid element is a data center in Europe that could also mirror BHL site. Will hear about funding by late October. If funded, should be a contract by Christmas. Graham thinks funding has a good chance because little cultural science current--mostly art and history. It all depends on referees now.

Other bid is part of Darwin 200 to digitize all Darwin publications that are currently not available on the web. Bid to Wellcome Foundation--they are very interested in BHL and this is a teaser. Proposal is for 1.4 million pounds. Judy wondered if the dollar figure is just for London or does it include other collections like Harvard Botany. Graham says it will be a range of solutions. Judy noted that this project would be perfect for submission of Darwin materials. Tom noted that the issue of how to digitize and configure non-published material (expedition reports, manuscripts, field notes etc.) is one of the issues the BHL needs to tackle in the long run. Need representatives of libraries and input of researchers. Book and journal model metadata is not the correct model. Darwin 200 project includes some of this. Cambridge U. is actually typing some of the material. Tom asked if this project would have access to Cambridge U. material and the answer from Graham is yes. Nancy noted that there is a lot of work that goes into these proposals--thank you!

4. Finances

• We aren't spending money fast enough! Due to a variety of factors, the planned budget has not been spent. Delays, Tom's salary covered by Smithsonian for longer than originally planned, etc. This will change! Moore Foundation, submission to IMLS for special collections mass scanning-will hear in October. Subawards seem to be working from Tom's perspective. Funded BHL Architecture meeting that was very productive. Can fund another Institutional Council meeting. Another request for a meeting for a one-day meeting of BHL staff. It would cost about $6-10,000. If this group is willing to support this, Tom thinks it is a good idea. AMNH offered space. General support all around. Graham hopes to hear what the biggest problems are.

5. Bowker ISBN memo

• Willing to give us several thousand ISBNs for monographs that pre-date ISBNs. Not sure where in the workflow this would go. Because we are 10 separate institutions, lawyers suggest document with separate signatures. Can sign and submit to Tom who will then submit to Bowker. Send Tom a scan of the file. Please read and if problems, talk to Tom. Reviewed by Bowker council and Smithsonian council. Can also run it by own council. Cathy asked if by getting these ISBNs, then who owns the ISBN? Tom says the position normally occupied by publisher is occupied by the library that owns the scanned book. Jim Edwards asked--what will publishers say if they are still in existence for these books? Tom said the ISBNs go with the scanned copy of the book only, not the print copy. This follows the facsimile process which is already similar. Graham noted, that from the publishers point of view, we are not infringing on their rights since all of these books are in public domain.

6. Status of EOL

• Jim Edwards notes that the EOL Steering Committee met and looked at proposed work programs for the upcoming year and approved almost all of them. BHL approved and includes the changes proposed to divert funds for BHL collections manager and data manager. There were virtually no concerns or questions raised for BHL part of project. It also approved keeping unexpended funds and pushing them into next year's budget. The renewal proposal for MacArthur/Sloane needs to be submitted by Dec 15 2008 for upcoming 2 years ($12.5 billion). Probably will not be significantly higher. Sept 30-Oct 1 the component leaders will be meeting and then with the Steering Committee on Oct. 2. Christian Sampere met with Robert Snyder (chief exec of CSI, inc. that owns Bowker and Proquest) and he is interested in providing in-kind services to EOL. Submit ideas for services to jim Edwards. Graham asked for a list of CSI companies. Tom will send out information. Graham also asked for comments about names management (uBIO, etc.) Jim said there was a meeting at Woods Hole to look into development of Global Names Index being (implemented now) that will allow an individual to enter a scientific name and get back a series of responses about what names compendia contain info about that name. Knowing where the names are will help assess validity and if currently used. It is also intended to be starting point for Global Names Architecture (one year away) which will take GNI and provide an automated way to deal with names publication process and resolution of names--background for GBIF and names that are not included in catalog of life. GNA funded by GBIF, EOL and other biodiversity informatics groups.
• Tom will draft goals, milestones and budget for next round of MacArthur/Sloane funding for serious review (by mid-August).

7. Expression of interest in becoming a BHL member from the California Digital Library

• Heard about Microsoft releasing restrictions. Chris did rough analysis of most popular LCSH subject terms in BHL and ran it against IA. About 6 million pages mostly from California. So we thought we could possibly ingest. Chris and Tom met with Ivy Anderson (head of collections) and Heather Christianson (head of mass digitizing). They need to clarify with microsoft but would be open to having BHL ingest content. Then indicated that they are interested in joining BHL. Pros: they have 2 scanning centers, workflow and capacity to do high level of through put, represent several museums, have collegial relationships with Cal. Acad. Sci and the LA County Museum, have access to funding sources many of us don't, have large library collections. The only uncertainty is that they are not a bricks and mortar library. Nancy notes that we need to be ready for other requests. Tom says CDL is different than JSTOR because JSTOR makes money off of its content; CDL does not. CDL is interested in open access and this fits our mission. Graham notes that there is a particular advantage to CDL because of the relationship with IA. A good tech team in CA means we have some clout in CA. CDL could also be another mirror site. Doug asked if CDL wants funding. Tom noted that he told them that the current funding is already allocated. Judy noted that CDL is good partner and could there be a real collection analysis--would be a great partner. Can CDL be added to the OCLC analysis. Tom noted that a key factor is what they bring from their collections. Can they help us with the OCLC analysis. Graham suggested that Tom go back and talk to CDL and ask what they hope to get out of the relationship. Tom will wait to hear from CDL. Then Tom can send us a recommendation. CDL has expressed interest but must get ok from provost. Originally scanned some duplicates because of the Microsoft restrictions on content.

8. Concerns and Directions

• Nancy asked about open access and partner policy issues--paper that went to EOL Steering Committee. The EOL Advisory Board had concerns about negotiations with commercial publishers. The document articulated what we were doing and why and provided recommendations. EOL AB responded that we could proceed. Tom distributed draft to Institutional Council. Nancy suggested that we reissue document as having been endorsed by EOL and then should be formally confirmed through Institutional Council. Should this document be made more public? Nancy noted that if we agree that we should accept this policy, then just need to establish wording of policy and make that public. Graham suggested that Tom revise the document to a policy document for editing, comments and voting.

Graham asked if this approach has worked. Nancy said we should do this regularly to keep us all up to speed. Judy agrees. General agreement. Tom suggests a call would be useful in late September prior to the document needed for next round of MacArthur/Sloane funding.

9. Here is Chris Freeland's email about the IA search for biodiversity materials:

All - Concerning MSN books in IA. We took the most frequently used
subjects in BHL and compared against the books scanned with MSN as the
sponsor. There's a total of 18,379 (give or take) and they break out
like this:

13,442 with:
mediatype:(texts) AND subject:(mammals OR plants OR paleontology OR
zoology OR birds OR fungi OR fishes OR evolution OR science OR mammals
OR biology OR amphibians OR reptiles OR anatomy OR mollusks OR insects
OR embryology OR algae OR snakes OR marine animals OR anatomy OR
crustacea OR mushrooms OR morphology OR frogs OR beetles OR cryptogamia
OR invertebrates OR nomenclature OR heredity OR diptera OR ethnology OR
musci OR pteridophyta OR trees OR permian OR vertebrates OR protozoa OR
arachnida OR entomology OR cretaceous OR lizards OR devonian OR
compositae OR ecology OR bryozoa OR oligocene OR phylogeny OR silurian
OR bats OR cnidaria OR turtles OR ordovician OR parasites OR paleobotany
OR rodents OR gramineae OR life OR echinodermata OR butterflies OR
biophysics OR ctenophora OR lepidoptera OR myriapoda OR salamanders OR
morphology OR forests OR staphyliniae OR spiders OR rubiaceae OR
phytogeography OR flowers OR ferns OR eocene OR bacteria OR
bacteriology) AND sponsor:(MSN)

3,088 with:
subject:(crocodiles OR miocene OR mogollon culture OR palms OR
phanerogams OR plankton OR tropical plants OR toads OR orchidaceae OR
orchids OR zoogeography OR mites OR microbiology OR mosses OR
jellyfishes OR macaques OR cyperaceae OR cyanobacteria OR anatomy OR
histology OR basidiomycetes OR annelida OR diatoms OR hymenoptera OR
fragilariaceae OR marine ecology OR moths OR muridae OR myxomycetes OR
microorganisms OR worms OR wetlands OR orthoptera OR protoplasm OR
syagrus OR skull OR shrubs OR sauropterygia OR rhizopoda OR shellfish OR
unionidae OR sponges OR primates OR pleistocene OR palmae OR larvae OR
lichens OR floras OR estuaries OR estuarine OR filices OR fishing OR
herbs OR grasses OR infusoria OR cells OR ear OR cytology OR animals OR
anthropometry OR insects OR bears OR bees OR batrachia OR alligators OR
copepoda OR catfishes OR cats OR carboniferous OR icones OR
euphorbiaceae OR fleas OR gastropoda OR lichenes OR liverworts OR
mycology OR oligochaeta) AND sponsor:MSN AND mediatype:texts

838 with:
subject:(phycomycetes OR photosynthesis OR pigeons OR soils OR shells OR
siphonophora OR sharks OR turbellaria OR ticks OR squamata OR shrimps OR
pliocene OR polychaeta OR polyporaceae OR pharmacognosy OR pharmacology
OR parthenogenesis OR nerves OR neuroptera OR whales OR wasps OR
myrtaceae OR mayas OR millepeds OR hybridization OR eurypterida OR
eugenics OR histeridae OR hylidae OR chlorophyll OR circulation OR
earthworms OR electrophysiology OR decapoda OR amphipoda OR cactaceae OR
dolphin OR moth OR caenolestes OR bivalvia OR biotic OR agaricaceae OR
ants OR anura OR apes OR aquaculture OR deer OR discomycetes OR
desmidiaceae OR corals OR cleridae OR cirripedia OR cenozoic OR cetacea
OR insectivora OR hydromedusae OR hydrozoa OR heliozoa OR herbals OR
herbarium OR geophysics OR fertilization OR estuarine OR ethnobotany OR
fruit OR larpcal OR liliaceae OR juncaceae OR isopoda OR karyokinesis OR
kra OR marsupials) AND sponsor:MSN AND mediatype:texts

498 with:
subject:(malacostraca OR mallophaga OR micrurus OR migration OR monkeys
OR nematoda OR nemertea OR mussels OR mosquitoes OR notoungulata OR
ophiuroidea OR osmosis OR pathology OR phototropism OR psychophysiology
OR rattlesnakes OR sponges OR tunicata OR truffles OR trilobites OR
toxicology OR solanaceae OR sphenomorphus OR skinks OR scrophulariaceae
OR seeds OR salmon OR sarcoptidae OR sciuridae OR scopelarchidae OR
scorpions OR snails OR sphingidae OR spermatophyta OR seagrasses OR
sealing OR shellfish OR sigmodontinae OR shrews OR shrikes OR viperidae
OR vitalism OR vivisection OR vogels OR urodela OR transpiration OR
trematopsidae OR umbelliferae OR termites OR telaranea OR teleostei OR
titmice OR spores OR sporozoa OR stenus OR symbiosis OR tadpoles OR
tantilla OR pulmonata OR pyrenomycetes OR quaternary OR ranidae OR rats
OR pteropoda OR procyonidae OR pselaphidae OR porophila OR phytoplankton
OR piperaceae OR pittosporum OR placodontia OR planaria) AND sponsor:MSN
AND mediatype:texts

513 with:
838subject:(phosphorescence OR pathogenicity OR parrots OR ovimbundu OR
oysters OR paleoclimatology OR paleoecology OR odonata OR opiliones OR
opossums OR noctuidae OR xylosma OR weeds OR xanthium OR xenarthra OR
mosasauridae OR myrsinaceae OR melastomataceae OR modellen OR macaca OR
lobsters OR lungfishes OR labiatae OR labordia OR or kish OR limnology
OR leguminosae OR lepidozia OR lepidoziaceae OR fossielen OR flies OR
hepaticae OR herpetology OR homalodotherium OR hyla OR hydrography OR
hymenomycetes OR iridaceae OR iris OR chameleons OR centipedes OR
cebidae OR carnivora OR cinchona OR climatology OR cladistic OR
cockroaches OR crabs OR crayfish OR cryptotis OR cryptogamae OR
dragonflies OR dogfish OR dogs OR edrioasteroidea OR ericaceae OR
endodontidae OR diadectes OR dimorphism OR diplocaulus OR agaricales OR
amphioxus OR amphisbaenia OR angiosperms OR amaryllidaceae OR amazonas
OR amoeba OR amphibia OR barnacles OR arthropoda OR ascomycetes) AND
sponsor:MSN AND mediatype:texts

There's no easy way of getting & grouping the contributors, so am not
sure how many libraries are involved here. Certainly UC & University of
Toronto. I wonder if IA could tell us, and what next steps would be?
The technology for this is solved; now just a matter of policy.