I am attending the DLF Spring Forum in Minneapolis, MN (where it has been snowing) along with several other folks from UIUC. I just got out of the keynote presentations which were very different but quite fascinating.
I've heard David Rumsey speak before about the work he is doing to digitize and make available his historical map collection (see http://www.davidrumsey.com/), but it has been a few years. His current work really blew me away - particularly the work that he is doing in Google Earth and Second Life. David spoke eloquently about how he sees his work as "digital philanthropy" in that he is able to make available and allow reuse of content and tools. David showed examples of how he is georeferencing historical maps so that they can be viewed with modern GIS systems (including quite a few with Google Earth). He also showed a fascinating 3D map of Yosemite that is now viewable in Second Life (where he has a map island). Maps on http://www.davidrumsey.com/ can be downloaded and reused in other applications, and David noted that he has formed unexpected collaborations based on this openness (for example: with GeoGarage)David ended his talk by noting that this policy of openness is realized both in the technical architecture as well as the collaborative relationships he's formed and this allows him to participate in the cyberinfrastructure in humanities. He urged libraries to consider following the same policies. - Sarah S.