Welcome to the Aluka Blog - a behind-the-scenes look into the life of Aluka. Here we will provide more information about the collaborations and relationships that inform the project, the many people around the world who are helping to shape and build this scholarly resource, and highlight new and interesting collections or materials that have entered the library. We also want to use this space to share practical information about recent enhancements or tools on the web site and strategies or tips that can improve your experience in using the site. We welcome your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions at any time.

2007 so far has been an important year for Aluka. In January, we released the first batch of digital content from the African Plants content area. Shortly thereafter we presented the database to partners and botanists in Cameroon at the XVIIIth Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa (AETFAT) Congress. And in the weeks after that, we also managed to convene a regional forum in Botswana, and initiate and set up a digital lab in Timbuktu, Mali. As of this week, Aluka has materials and content from the two other content areas: African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes and the Struggles for Freedom in Southern Africa. Together, these materials offer a fleeting glimpse of what might be possible. Certainly there is much more to be done and over time, this Blog will also help communicate what we’re working on. I hope the Aluka Blog can help capture and convey the many facets of our work with partners and friends around the world and share with you their perspectives and experiences.

For those of us involved in building Aluka, it has been an arduous and exhilarating few years. This project has succeeded in accomplishing so much in thanks to the passion and dedication of hundreds of individuals and dozens of institutions around the globe. It is in every way the result of hard work, the sharing of ideas and experiences, and a fundamental belief that this knowledge must be preserved and made more widely available.

So now the journey continues and we enter a new phase. Please accept our invitation to weave yourself into Aluka. Spread the word and inform your colleagues, fellow students, and librarians. With your help, we can make Aluka what it deserves to be.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 4:52 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.