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_______________ To: The Digital Library Federation Sponsors and Friends From: Chuck Henry Subj: Brief Update Colleagues: Now that we are past the first month of the DLF/CLIR merger, I though a brief update of activities would be helpful. Always feel free to send me email if you have any questions or thoughts about the announcements, which will be issued every six weeks or so for the next several months. Legal Issues All of the paperwork associated with the merger has been finalized and filed with the District of Columbia. As you probably know, both DLF's and CLIR's boards approved the merger unanimously, and DLF is now a program within the Council. Transition Steering Committee A steering committee to assist and advise with the DLF transition has been convened, and has meet via teleconference twice since June; we plan to meet virtually in September, with a face to face meeting scheduled in Washington for early October. Committee members: Fred Heath, University of Texas, Austin Geneva Henry, Rice University Paula Kaufman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Rick Luce, Emory University James Neal, Columbia University Winston Tabb, The Johns Hopkins University Fall Forum The DLF Forum will be mounted as planned, November 11-13, in Long beach, CA. In an act of exceptional generosity, Sayeed Choudhury, Associate Dean of Libraries and Director of the Hodson Digital Research and Curation Center at Johns Hopkins, and a CLIR Senior Presidential Fellow, has agreed to chair the fall Forum, and is presently guiding the planning process. Sayeed has connected with the DLF Forum Planning Committee and some standing interest groups in DLF, who are also now a part of this effort. Information on the main themes and goals of the upcoming Forum will be communicated in the coming weeks. Sponsorship Dues As voted by the DLF Board of Trustees at its last meeting, those institutions that constituted the membership of the Digital LIbrary Federation will become sponsors of the newly merged organization. These institutions will be asked to contribute an annual sponsorship fee of $2,500. As the longer term strategy for DLF becomes more sharply focused, an effort will be made to widen the sponsorship. For this year, only the original DLF members will be contacted for annual dues; these are separate and distinct from CLIR's sponsorship dues. Eric Celeste Eric Celeste has been retained as an external advisor to CLIR as we move forward on shaping the DLF program. Eric is widely known and respected in many facets of academic IT, and currently consults for the Minnesota Digital Library and ARL. He has been active in DLF for many years and his experience will be a valuable asset in future planning. Next Steps Rather than assume at this time a specific course of action for the Digital Library Federation, the Transition Steering Committee, in consultation with many sponsors and friends of DLF, will assess the program and recommendations that come out of the fall Forum and begin thereafter to articulate a strategy and focus for DLF that will provide the best services and programmatic contributions to its sponsors and the wider academic constituency. This program, as it becomes articulated, will also fundamentally influence the qualities, skills, and experience we will be looking for in the appointment of the DLF Program Officer, whom we hope to hire by the spring, 2010. Again, my sincere thanks to all of you who continue to support DLF, who remain engaged with its evolution, and who will contribute to what I believe will be a vibrant and compelling next phase. Charles Henry, Ph.D. President Council on Library and Information Resources 1752 N Street NW Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20036-2909 Trust. Build. v. 202.939-4752 f. 202.939-4765