The word \u201ccharting\u201d that is used in the title of this project has a two-fold meaning: to map out the landscape as it exists today, and to plot a course for its future. Explorations into the current digital landscape reveal a rich but discontinuous environment that fails to meet the growing needs of the conservation profession and the audiences it serves. The reasons for this failure are rooted in issues of leadership, policy, training, digital content, resources, and the low visibility of the profession and its practitioners. Many of these issues were first discussed as long ago as 2006,[2] when representatives in the community met to assess the challenges of \u201cdigital documentation.\u201d The difference a decade later is that these challenges have grown more complex with the growth of information networks, and are overwhelming the community and limiting its potential.<\/p>\n
The recommendations made in this report suggest a way forward that can lead to greater efficiencies, more reliable knowledge bases, and increased cooperation and collaboration within the profession and with its allied communities both here and abroad. They will guide the community in creating a digital landscape that accommodates its needs and that helps the field flourish. Organizations must take the lead in structuring this more robust digital landscape, but it will take efforts at all levels of the profession \u2013 and significant assistance from allied professions \u2013 to help bring it about.<\/p>\n