Librarian Travels: Global Biodiversity Heritage Library Meeting in Australia, part 1.
I recently returned from a trip to the global Biodiversity Heritage Library Meeting in Australia. The kick-off was “BHL Day” on 31 January 2014 in the Melbourne Museum, Melbourne, Australia.
Ely Wallis, Chair of gBHL organized the meeting and we had a spectacular time. BHL Day began with a traditional welcome from the indigenous people of Australia by Caroline Martin, Bunjilaka Manager of the museum.
As we stood in a circle, Caroline Martin (with our host Ely Wallis on left) led a traditional welcome.
Presentations from members of the gBHL nodes attending followed the welcome. Reports were provided by BHL Classic Chair, Nancy Gwinn, BHL Australia’s Ely Wallis, BHL China’s JinzhongCui and Fenghong Liu, BHL Europe’s Jiri Frank, BHLSciELO’s Abel Packer and Fabiana Montanari Lapido and BHL Africa’s Anne-Lise Fourie.
BHLAfrica report, Anne-Lise Fourie
Staff from BHL Egypt were unable to attend. It was illuminating to hear what the global BHL nodes are doing. The afternoon session posed several provocative questions related to recent literature, reprint collections and archival collections leading to a fruitful discussion of new directions as well as boundaries for BHL. Joining BHL representatives were staff and volunteers from the Melbourne Museum, Australia’s national science agency (CSIRO) and the Atlas of Living Australia. The Museum arranged a tour of the “First Peoples” exhibit, the library rare book room,and a special visit to see live insects on display for visitors.
