Martin R. KalfatovicProgram Director

Biodiversity Heritage Library

Smithsonian Libraries

Constance RinaldoErnst Mayr Library

Museum of Comparative Zoology

Harvard University

Enabling Progress inGlobal Biodiversity Research

The Biodiversity Heritage LibraryJuly 2016 | Shanghai

第八届上海国际图书馆论坛

The cultivation of natural science cannot be efficiently carried on without reference to an extensive library...

Charles Darwin, et al (1847)

BHL is one of the ‘Wonders of the World’ and has been a lifechanging

resource.

A BHL user

I. Introduction/Overview

Inspiring Discovery through Free Access to Biodiversity Knowledge

VisionThe Biodiversity Heritage Library improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.

Mission

A global project that encompasses

Libraries ScienceTechnology

The Biodiversity Heritage Library improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.

Operating as a consortium of natural history, botanical gardens, research institutions, and related organizations, the BHL is administered via a Secretariat located at the Smithsonian Libraries in Washington, DC, and a global network of staff at participating institutions.

MembersAmerican Museum of Natural History BHL AustraliaCornell UniversityThe Field Museum of Natural HistoryHarvard University Botany LibrariesMayr Library of the Museum of Comp. Zoology (Harvard University)Library of CongressMissouri Botanical Garden LibraryBHL SingaporeBHL MexicoNatural History Museum, London The New York Botanical GardenRoyal Botanic Garden, KewSmithsonian LibrariesUnited States Geological Survey LibrariesUniversity of Illinois

Affiliates

Academy of Natural Sciences BHL AfricaCanadian Museum of NatureChicago Botanic GardenCalifornia Academy of SciencesInternet ArchiveMBLWHOI LibraryNational Agriculture LibraryNatural History Museum, LA CountyNaturalis Biodiversity CenterSmithsonian Institution ArchivesWashington University

Global Partners

BHL ChinaBHL EuropeBHL EgyptBHL SciELO

BHL collections contain over 49 million pages from over 183,000 volumes, approaching the size of many libraries in typical natural history or botanical collections.

49,385,637 pages183,096 volumes109,159 titles176K+ articles

June 2016

Since its creation in 2006 and portal launch in 2007, BHL has served millions of users in all countries.

On average, BHL receives nearly 1.5 million visits per year.

BHL contributing institutions have had over 80 million downloads of items.

1. London2. Paris3. New York4. Washington5. Mexico City6. Berlin7. Sydney8. Vienna9. Sao Paulo10. Madrid

Global Usage

Usage in ChinaChina is an important user of BHL; over 146,000 sessions since 2008. Cities with the highest BHL use are Beijing (31,115 sessions)Guangzhou (14,825 sessions)Shanghai (10,359)

Usage in ChinaSessions by City

Usage in ChinaPages/Sessions by City

BHL is an excellent research tool that has considerably sped up my work and those of many other scientists that rely on or need to refer to previously published data. BHL opens up scientific literature for the widest audience possible and repatriates scientific knowledge.A BHL user

II. A Model of Success with Scientific Impact

The BHL is a proven initiative empowering discovery through free and open access to biodiversity literature and provides unparalleled access to over 600 years of scientific exploration, research, and discovery from the 15th century to yesterday.

By making biodiversity literature openly available online, the BHL is repatriating scientific knowledge to all parts of the globe, advancing scientific fields more quickly and connecting scientists and research more efficiently than ever before.

The BHL is revolutionizing the way scientific research and conservation is conducted, helping scientists to identify, describe, and conserve the world’s species and the habitats that support them.

Illustrative of the BHL's commitment to open data, the BHL is a charter signatory of the Bouchout Declaration for Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management.

Scientists have long considered lack of access to biodiversity literature a major impediment to the efficiency of scientific research.

The species data, ecosystem profiles, distribution maps, illustrations, behavioral, and inter-dependency observations, and geological and climatic records contained in the BHL reinforces current scientific research and provides an historical perspective on species abundance, habitat alteration, and human exploration, culture, and discovery.

I think BHL is one of the most important and useful resources online right now. Judging by how often I use it, I’d say it has an impact on my research commensurate with that of Google Scholar or Web of Science. It’s allowed me to discover and access literature that I would never have been aware of or have had access to otherwise.

A BHL user

III. Staffing and Governance

As a hallmark of success, the BHL has focused on a sustainable and iterative governance and staffing model that allows for flexibility with changing circumstances and funding. Operating under a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) and the BHL Bylaws, the BHL is a flexible consortia of institutions with a common goal.

Governance2016 Members Council

RBG Kew

Executive Committee

GovernanceSecretariat and

Technical Advisers

Secretariat

Technical Advisers

BHL is radically changing the status quo and democratizing

access to knowledge about biodiversity. Now anybody in the world has instant access

to the original species descriptions

Dr. John S., Ichthyologist

IV. Partnership

The BHL actively partners with large biodiversity organizations such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, TDWG, and the Encyclopedia of Life.

The BHL actively partners with metadata aggregators such as the Digital Public Library of America and Europeana.

V. Global BHLLiving in Canada and with only sporadic and very limited access to hard materials in Nairobi, the digitizing of much of Kenya nature material has permitted me to stay involved and active from afar, and is much appreciated.

A Canadian BHL user

The spread of the BHL meme was a direct outcome of the early success of BHL. Formally launched in May 2007, the BHL had, by November 2008 attracted enough attention to generate interest in European institutions seeking European Union (EU) funding for a congruent project. BHL invited interested European partners to various planning and technical meetings which culminated in the successful EU proposal that led to BHL Europe in January 2009.

BHL China was formed in January 2010 under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Associated directly with the CAS Institute of Botany, BHL China was a direct outgrowth of the Encyclopedia of Life's relationship with the CAS and the interest in Dr. Keping Ma of the CAS in forming a BHL node.

With support from the CAS/IB, BHL China has supported a single Internet Archive Scribe machine to digitize 19th and 20th century literature.

Zheping Xu Jinzhong Cui

Currently, BHL global partners are located in Europe, China, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Singapore, and Mexico.

International Focus

Areas of expansion include Central America, South America, West and Central Africa, Russia, India, Japan & Korea, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand.

VI. Technology

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an absolute treasure for government agencies with limited funding. I’m very impressed with the breadth of its content. It’s a wonderful idea; please keep up the good work!

A BHL user

BHL offers various web APIs, downloads, and other services for export and download of BHL data and content. BHL partners with the Internet Archive for file staging and storage. Additionally, complete copies of the BHL scan data is held at the Smithsonian Institution and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; a partial copy is stored via the BHL Europe project in London.

VII. ContentI am a PhD student and your library is one of the most important fountains of

knowledge for me - the literature available at BHL is often not available

anywhere else - since I have to rely heavily on historic works.

Moyna M.

At its core, the BHL is focused on the subject matter relevant to the work of zoologists, botanists, evolutionary biologists, taxonomists, systematists, ecologists, natural history collections managers, scientific illustrators, biological science historiographers, and amateur scientists & hobbyists.

To serve a wide, interdisciplinary audience, the boundaries of the BHL collection are deliberately inclusive. As E.O. Wilson once stated, “Biologists are inclined to agree that it [biodiversity] is in one sense everything” (1997), which is why content at the periphery of the core taxonomic zoological and botanical literature is present in the collection.

The bulk of material in the BHL is in the public domain in the United States, meaning that the publication date is prior to 1923. However, BHL has an active program to increase the amount of in copyright material available through negotiations with content providers. As of March 2016, BHL has 434 titles from 187 licensors.

The BHL encompasses both a “core” of subjects related to biodiversity as well as those that support biodiversity research.

VIII. Major New Projects and Initiatives

GASP. My mind is stunned and spinning at how valuable your website is as a resource for an author/illustrator like me.Artist and BHL user

Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (EABL)

EABL addresses the challenges facing many libraries, archives, museums, natural history societies, and cultural heritage institutions that do not have the resources to contribute relevant content to BHL or other hosts on their own. EABL will make necessary digital infrastructure enhancements by creating an innovative model for open access to data and to support collaboration among biodiversity content providers.

Field Notes

Field notes are the primary source documents for the history of scientific research and discovery. They can provide invaluable, unpublished information about scientific expeditions, landmark scientific publications, and natural history museum collections. They can also provide rich data for researchers to understand how biodiversity has changed over time and space.

BHL Version 2.0

Looking forward, the BHL is in the planning stages of BHL Version 2.0 that will provide a number of enhancements and redesign elements, including the following:

Platform TransformationSemantic and Linked DataEnhanced PlatformEnhanced Crowdsourcing CapabilitiesEngagement with a Wider Community

Through Social Media

Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine

中国的鱼类史F.N. Martinet & E. Billardon-Sauvigny Paris,1780.

IX. BHL @ 10 No doubt you've thought of this already, but the term “heritage” reinforces the fact that what you are creating is truly a heritage for the future of biological research.

A BHL user and publisher

In April 2016, representatives from nearly all BHL Members, Affiliates, and partners attended a series of meeting held in London to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the BHL. Held at the Natural History Museum (London) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the centerpiece of the celebration was the Third BHL Day. Featuring speakers from the areas of biodiversity, the humanities, and computer science.

X. ConclusionI feel that BHL has helped

reignite a love of natural history, both for me at a personal level, but also

more broadly in biology.Dr. Christopher Buddle

The BHL has been a successful model for digital library development and collaboration due to its focus on a specific use case, namely, providing access to a core constituency of taxonomists.

BHL looks to the future with planned and sustainable growth, enriched content, and appropriate services.

谢谢你Thank you!