President’s Message
Greetings WAML!
Spring is on its way, and soon after, summer! And soon after that, the 2018 WAML Annual Meeting in sunny San Diego! President-Elect Tom Brittnacher is working hard now with Lisa Lamont (San Diego State University) and Michael Smith (UC San Diego) on making arrangements. The meeting will take place at San Diego State University, September 12 to 15th. Mark your calendars!
It was a great pleasure to see many of you at the WAML 2017 meeting in November. I extend one final thank you to Katherine Strickland and Hannah Roberts at UT Austin for all of their hard work hosting our organization. They did a fabulous job.
I recently spent time with several of you at two functions. The Earth Sciences & Map Library here at the University of Colorado Boulder recently had the great pleasure of hosting members of the ALA Map and Geospatial Information Round Table for a tour of our library and collections. My colleagues Ilene Raynes and Naomi Heiser gave an excellent talk to MAGIRT members about our course-integrated instruction program using our map collection.
I also spent time with several fellow WAMLites at Geo4LibCamp 2018 at Stanford. In case you are unaware, Geo4LibCamp is an annual gathering focused on bringing together those of us that are building geospatial-repository services at our libraries. Our friends Darren Hardy, Jack Reed, Stace Maples, Kim Durante, and Julie Sweetkind-Singer from Stanford host the event. If you or your colleagues provide geospatial services at your library, then I highly recommend attending this event in the future. You will not regret it!
Finally, many of you may have heard that the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is currently considering a licensed data model for the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). I believe it is in the best interest of WAML and all of our patron communities that NAIP remains free and open. The Executive Board and I have been monitoring this situation since this news broke late last year. In the event that the FSA elects to move forward with this proposal, they will likely post a Notice in the Federal Register. Typically, a public comment period follows. I anxiously await more news on the FSA’s decision, which is due in May. I will disseminate new information as it becomes available on the WAML email list and MAPS-L. Be aware that a call to action may be coming! If you have ideas about how WAML can push to keep NAIP in the public domain, I invite your ideas and opinions.
Enjoy spring,
Phil White
WAML President
University of Colorado Boulder
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