Global Water

In This Issue

The Center for Research Libraries Global Resources Network (GRN) hosted the Global Water: 2010 and Beyond forum, cosponsored by the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA). The two-day event (October 21–22, 2010) attracted librarians, scholars, archivists, and others to assess the issues related to the preservation and use of water-related resources.

Day One: Presentations

The first day of the event featured presentations on water issues from various experts, who provided unique perspectives on the nature and sources of documentation on water supply, quality, and consumption and related environmental issues; how such documentation is collected for traditional and emerging lines of research; and challenges encountered in preserving and ensuring access to traditional and electronic source materials on water supply and use.

Day Two: Working Sessions

On the second day of the forum, participating librarians and archivists from CRL and GWLA institutions discussed the issues and challenges identified on day one and explored ways to improve support of water-related research and policy-making. The outcome of the event was a series of strategies, policies, and practices that libraries, archives, and other repositories should adopt to accommodate the new realities of the field.

Water Resources Topic Guide

Under CRL’s Global Resources Forum initiative, Topic Guides survey the availability of source materials in collection areas of particular interest to member libraries. CRL will release updated Topic Guides throughout the year, especially in conjunction with collection webinars. Our newest Topic Guide on Water Resources includes essays on the current “landscape” of challenges to collecting in this field, and highlights resources available at CRL and elsewhere.

Soap Lake siphon in the Columbia Basin irrigation system in Washington State, taken near the end of the 2.44 mile-long
concrete bore, c. 1942. Boasting an inside diameter of 25 feet, the siphon carries the entire flow of the West Canal from the east side of the Grand Coulee around the northern end of Soap Lake to the west side of the Grand Coulee. University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, UW 8237.