Dear XX

Good morning! As a member of the Teaching Section, we'd like your opinion and support.

The mission and objectives of the Botanical Society of America address the broad concept of making more and better information regarding botany and plants available to educators.

In the late 1980s, the BSA Teaching Section solicited slides from its members to share for the purposes of teaching, mainly for trade among themselves. With the popularization of the Internet, images were scanned into digital format to make the collection more readily available. Sadly, not all topics are covered on this site and the descriptions are sparing. Currently, BSA is working on upgrading the image collection and making it more useful, particularly for those in the K-12 range.

In order to move this project forward we need your help with and feedback on the following items:

1. We are asking for volunteers to "adopt" sections of the image collection and update/expand the comments so that they are botanically correct and that a search engine would generate more useful results, particularly if you are a K-12 educator.

2. In your opinion, what would make this collection of images more useful? What areas (topics, systematic classifications, etc.) are currently missing? Are there any images that may be outdated or have incorrect information? The Education Committee is working on a process to allow new images to be reviewed and posted. Input from us on areas to improve would help them focus their efforts.

If you are willing to volunteer, can suggest an expert who might be persuaded to volunteer, or have any comments regarding the questions above, I would love to hear from you. Please email me at: bbrown6@naz.edu

Sincerely,

Beverly J. Brown
Chairperson, Teaching Section
Botanical Society of America
And Assistant Professor
Biology Department
Nazareth College
4245 East Ave.
Rochester, NY 14618
585-389-2555, bbrown6@naz.edu