I'm on the planning committee for this conference and would be thrilled to see some of my Michigan colleagues participate in this event. Save the Date - Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference, August 9-11, 2016 The 2nd Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference (UMDCC) will take place August 9-11th at St. Ambrose University<http://www.sau.edu/> in Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities). The UMDCC provides opportunities for digital collections creators and curators in the region and beyond to network, share best practices, participate in hands-on workshops, and learn from leaders in digital cultural heritage. The conference will be held jointly with the 2016 CONTENTdm User Group Meeting, sponsored by OCLC, on August 10-11th. Look for a call for session proposals in March. Registration will open in early summer. The 2016 Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference is organized by Minitex, WiLS, and RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library System) and hosted by St. Ambrose University Library. Keynote Speaker Trevor Owens We're excited to announce that Trevor Owens of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will kick off the UMDCC conference on August 9th as keynote speaker! Trevor will introduce the National Digital Platform<https://www.imls.gov/issues/national-issues/national-digital-platform> priority, discuss how the cultural heritage community can engage with and connect local projects to it, and share updates on the future of the initiative. About Trevor Owens Trevor is the Senior Program Officer responsible for the development of the National Digital Platform<https://www.imls.gov/issues/national-issues/national-digital-platform> portfolio for the Office of Library Services at IMLS. He steers an overall strategy of research, grant making, communications and policy agendas in support of the development of national digital services and resources in libraries. From 2010-15, Trevor served as a Digital Archivist with the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) at the Library of Congress. Before that, he was the community manager for the Zotero project at the Center for History and New Media. Trevor has a doctorate in social science research methods and educational technology from the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University, a bachelor's degree in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin, and a master's degree in American history with an emphasis on digital history from George Mason University. He teaches graduate seminars on digital history and digital curation for American University's history department and the University of Maryland's iSchool. In 2014, the Society of American Archivists gave him the Archival Innovator Award, an award granted annually to recognize the archivist, repository, or organization that best exemplifies the "ability to think outside the professional norm." - Sara Ring (Minitex) and Emily Pfotenhauer (WiLS), on behalf of the 2016 UMDCC Planning Committee Kevin ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v Kevin Driedger Librarian for Conservation and Digitization Library of Michigan P.O. Box 30007 702 W. Kalamazoo Lansing, MI 48913 517-373-9440 driedgerk@michigan.gov<mailto:driedgerk@michigan.gov> www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan<http://www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan>