The Coalition acknowledges that it is early days for the initiative and its exact role will develop as resources and partnerships are identified. It is anticipated this Terms of Reference document will remain with Draft status and will be revised significantly in the coming months.
Background:
The original Symposium Organizing Committee was established to organize the BC Digitization Symposium, held December 1 and 2, 2008 at UBC. 170 participants attended the event representing many key stakeholders in the community, including post-secondary and public libraries, archives, museums, historical societies and teachers from the post-secondary and K-12 sectors. To ensure an open and transparent process, associations representing each sector were given a number of seats at the Symposium and also invited their own participants.
Symposium participants identified 6 key priorities for action. The Organizing Committee also identified a number of recommendations for next steps that were included in the Final Report and sent to all Symposium participants for feedback and endorsement. The first recommendation is to continue the Symposium Organizing Committee “as an informal coalition to coordinate the development of this initiative” [BC Digitization Symposium Final Report p. 6]. The Committee will function under the new name BC Digitization Coalition and will continue to represent a broad range of sectors and interests. As recommended in the Symposium Final Report, the Coalition will review the current membership to ensure balanced representation of the major stakeholders. The BC Digitization Coalition is not an elected body and will only serve as long as needed to move the recommendations of the BC Digitization Symposium Final Report forward.
Purpose:
- Continue to implement key recommendations identified by BC Digitization Symposium participants
- Advocate for collaboration and partnerships, especially around opportunities for funding to support ongoing digitization initiatives
- Facilitate dialogue and discussion around digitization strategies in communities across the Province
- Work with small and rural communities to support digitization efforts
Guiding Principles:
- In conducting its activities the Coalition will consult widely with a broad range of stakeholders and will ensure that communication is open and transparent.
- The Coalition will work to support digitization efforts without duplicating the work of others.