CLIR to undertake review to plan for next iteration of DLF
Digital Library Federation (DLF) Director Bethany Nowviskie is leaving CLIR to serve as Dean of Libraries at James Madison University starting July 1, 2019. She will also join the tenured faculty of JMU’s Department of English. Over the coming months, Nowviskie will serve as senior advisor to DLF to ensure a smooth transition of her responsibilities, and has additionally been appointed a CLIR Distinguished Presidential Fellow.
“It has been a great honor to serve DLF’s passionate and dedicated community over the past four years,” Nowviskie said, “and to guide a period in which we expanded both our mission and the vital perspectives present in our membership.”
Under the auspices of its board of directors, CLIR will initiate a review of DLF to plan for the next iteration of the Federation, building on its strengths and assuring its continuity into the next decade. The review will involve the DLF advisory committee, CLIR Board, staff, and members of the DLF community. “As DLF approaches its 25th anniversary, we want to be sure that its programs and projects remain strong and strategically vital,” said CLIR Board Chairman Christopher Celenza.
Joanne Kossuth, founding director of 1Mountain Road consultancy, will lead the review that will conclude in early 2020. “1MountainRoad is excited to embark on this journey to the future with the DLF and CLIR communities,” said Kossuth. “The committed membership provides many opportunities for collaboration, expanded communities of practice, and innovation.”
Over the next few months, meetings will be held with DLF working groups and advisory boards to understand current activities, identify areas for growth, and explore ideas for future innovation. Meetings with staff and engagement in new planning activities for the Forum will focus on strengthening DLF as a CLIR program and as an international forum for collaboration and innovation. Working with CLIR leadership, strategic partnerships and participation will be reviewed, including the potential for a senior advisory committee on the review. At the conclusion of these meetings the feedback will be incorporated into planning for the next organizational steps and the 2020 Forum.
Since Nowviskie’s appointment to DLF in 2015, she has worked energetically to expand, diversify, and engage the DLF community, fostering connections to liberal arts colleges, museums, archives, historically black colleges and universities, and civic data groups. “The contributions of DLF will continue to be integral to its communities of practice and to the evolution of digital technologies as a public good,” said CLIR President Charles Henry. “As CLIR’s mission and responsibilities expand to a global scale, DLF’s portfolio will similarly broaden, seeking new opportunities attendant on an increasingly complex and interdependent world digital environment.”
More details of the review and its findings and recommendations will be published in the coming months.
The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent, nonprofit organization that forges strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning. It is home to the Digital Library Federation, an international network of member institutions and a robust community of practice, advancing research, learning, social justice, and the public good through the creative design and wise application of digital library technologies.
