-----Original Message-----
From: On Behalf Of Tim Byrne
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 17:40 PM
To: maps-l
Subject: GWLA Technical Reports Digitization Update

As was announced in a mid-November, 2006 "call for interest", the
Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA - www.gwla.org) and the Center
for Research Libraries (CRL - www.crl.edu) have been collaborating on a
pilot project to ascertain both the practicality of and impediments to
digitizing and making openly available selected (primarily) pre-1975
U.S. government agency technical reports.  At this point we wanted to
offer this progress report and a sneak peek at the pilot project phase
of the database to any who might be interested.

In response to the November call for interest, we heard from 47
CRL-member libraries, 16 GWLA-member libraries, 12 non-GWLA, non-CRL
colleges and universities, and from 16 special libraries and/or
government libraries/agencies.  In responding to a question about which
agency's reports respondents would most like to see digitized and added
to the database, the top 10 agencies that received votes, in order of
preference, were DOE, EPA, NASA, USDA (which included seven Forest
Service requests), NBS, USGS, AEC, NACA, US Army research, technology,
and engineering reports, and the US Bureau of Mines.  Beyond those 10
was a long tail of responses, including a number that requested reports
in particular topical areas rather than from specific agencies.

While the database of reports is still relatively small (many more are
in the process of being digitized and will be loaded when received), the
pilot project database has been named (TRAIL - Technical Report Archive
and Image
Library) and is available for your perusal at
http://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/techreports/index.php.  Keep in mind
that this is the database set up for the pilot project and to help
demonstrate proof of concept - a larger scale production version of the
database might be designed somewhat differently.

So where do things go from here?  Our next steps are to prepare a report
on the pilot project for submission to both GWLA and CRL.  That report
will also include suggested next steps, possible timelines, cost
estimates, possible support/funding models, etc.  The members and
leadership of those two organizations will largely determine where the
project goes from here.
Assuming that there is support from GWLA and CRL to continue the project
and that a support and participation model can be readily agreed to, we
will then be contacting those institutions that expressed interest in
participating in the project with options on the form that participation
might take.

If your institution did not respond to the call in November but are
interested in being kept in the loop about this project, please contact
Alice Trussell ([log in to unmask]) with your contact information.

Regards,

The GWLA Federal Technical Reports Task Force

Maliaca Oxnam, Chair (University of Arizona) Tim Byrne (University of
Colorado) Mel DeSart (University of Washington) Patricia Kirkwood
(University of Arkansas) Daureen Nesdill (University of Utah) John
Saylor (Cornell University) Bob Schwarzwalder (University of Hawaii)
Donna Swischer (Linda Hall Library) Melissa Trevvett, liaison (Center
for Research
Libraries) Alice Trussell (Kansas State University)