African Digital Libraries in Global Content: The Biodiversity Heritage Library Model. Martin R. Kalfatovic & Anne-Lise Fourie, ICADLA-4. Accra, Ghana, 28 May 2015
African Digital Libraries in Global Content: The Biodiversity Heritage Library Model
1. African Digital Libraries in Global Content: The
Biodiversity Heritage Library Model
library.si.edu
Martin R. Kalfatovic & Anne-Lise Fourie | 28 May 2015 | Legon, Ghana
4th International Conference on African Digital Libraries & Archives
3. The cultivation of
natural science
cannot be
efficiently carried
on without
reference to an
extensive library
Charles Darwin, et al (1847)
Extensive … and vast ...
7. Committed to open access…
http://bouchoutdeclaration.org/
Our natural world is a source of food, water, resources,
protection and enjoyment that our society needs. The richness
and complexity of nature, and the speed of new discoveries
made possible by genomic and digital technologies, challenge
us to find new ways to benefit from and be better custodians of
the natural world. Digital information management systems can
bring together the wealth of information now dispersed in a
myriad of different documents, institutions, and locations. With
such systems, we can harness the benefits of rapid discovery
and open up our legacy of over 260 years of biological
observations.
Bouchout Declaration
Signatory
9. 23 Members and Affiliates
16 Members
American Museum of Natural History
Cornell University
The Field Museum of Natural History
Harvard University Botany Libraries
Mayr Library of the Museum of Comp. Zoology (Harvard University)
Library of Congress
Marine Biological Laboratory & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Missouri Botanical Garden Library
BHL Singapore (National Library Board)
BHL Mexico (CONABIO)
Natural History Museum, London
The New York Botanical Garden
Royal Botanic Garden, Kew
Smithsonian Libraries
United States Geological Survey Libraries
University of Illinois
10. 23 Members and Affiliates
7 Affiliates
Academy of Natural Sciences
Natural History Museum, LA County
Chicago Botanic Garden
California Academy of Sciences
National Agriculture Library
Washington University
BHL Africa (SANBI & National Museums of Kenya)
11. And now has “global nodes” throughout the world
Europe, China, Brasil, Australia, Egypt,
Sub-Saharan Africa, Singapore, & Mexico
12.
13.
14. Secretariat and Technical Staff
August 2011Program Director
Program Manager
Collections Coordinator
Communication & Outreach Manager
Technical Director
Programmer / Secret Weapon
Data Project Coordinator
15. Global BHL Steering Committee
August 2011
Vice Chair SecretaryChair
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Global Governance
Dr. Elycia Wallis Dr. Jiri FrankDr. Elycia Wallis Dr. Nancy GwinnDr. Jiri FrankDr. Jiri Frank
35. BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY AFRICA
Launched in April 2013 | Form part of the global
BHL initiative | Common goal to digitize past
and present literature
36. REGIONS OF BHL Africa
Western and Central Africa
Eastern Africa
Southern Africa
37. WHAT DO WE DO?
• Digitize biodiversity literature not available from other BHL
global nodes
• Create an awareness of Africa’s variety of biodiversity
material
• Digitize significant content relevant to African biodiversity
• Content Creation
• Audience Building
• Content Identification
• Partnership Building
38. IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION
If you want to go far, go together
Two strong collaborations currently in Africa
National Museums Kenya and their partners
South African National Biodiversity Institute
(SANBI) and the University of Pretoria (UP)
Macaw
Internet Archive scribes
39. MEMBER BENEFITS
Access to specialized repository software and
technical support
Global exposure of institutes and their holdings
Material formerly only physically accessible now
online available
Membership promotes and increases stronger
awareness towards fragile biodiversity of Africa
40. THE ROAD AHEAD FOR BHLA
FOR THE FIRST 2 YEARS...
• Identifying those unique collections
• Identification of available resources and
digitization capacity
• Extensive training will be done
41. THE ROAD AHEAD FOR BHLA
NEXT 5 YEARS...
• Collaborate and share resources amongst
participating members
• Partnership and audience building
• Funding for identified projects
• Book and Digital Preservation
• Scribes
42. “
T
h
a
n
k
y
o
u
m
u
c
h
f
o
r
y
o
u
r
h
e
May I compliment you on this
splendid service? The
Library's invaluable for my
work on seasonal variability
of climate and vector-borne
disease in British India, 1875-
1940.
Compliments from our users
44. “
T
h
a
n
k
y
o
u
m
u
c
h
f
o
r
y
o
u
r
h
e
I really appreciate your work.
The Biodiversity Heritage
Library is an excellent resource
that regularly helps my
assistant and I obtain original
descriptions for plants .... I feel
so privileged to be working in a
day in age when such resources
are so readily available and
easy to obtain
Compliments from our users
45. “
T
h
a
n
k
y
o
u
m
u
c
h
f
o
r
y
o
u
r
h
e
I really appreciate your work.
The Biodiversity Heritage
Library is an excellent resource
that regularly helps my
assistant and I obtain original
descriptions for plants .... I feel
so privileged to be working in a
day in age when such resources
are so readily available and
easy to obtain
Compliments from our users
46. In any well-appointed
Natural History Library
there should be found
every book and every
edition of every book
dealing in the remotest
way with the subjects
concerned.
Charles Davies Sherborn
Epilogue to Index Animalium,
March 1922
47. Looking Forward
In any well-appointed
Natural History Library
there should be found
every book and every
edition of every book
dealing in the remotest
way with the subjects
concerned.
Charles Davies Sherborn
Epilogue to Index Animalium, March 1922
48. Looking Forward
In any well-appointed
Natural History Library
there should be found
every book and every
edition of every book
dealing in the remotest
way with the subjects
concerned.
Charles Davies Sherborn
Epilogue to Index Animalium, March 1922
Inspiring discovery through free
access to biodiversity knowledge
Image: “A vast library of life.” Text: So how to you create a well-formed digital library from the vast amount of data available?
BHL has been a success because it is not a single project, but one that integrates a number of disciplines into a coherent project. There is a strong technology component, a library component, and importantly, a science component
Committed to open access… e.g. Bouchout Declaration Signatory
There are currently 23 institutional BHL members and affiliates in the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and Mexico
There are currently 19 institutional BHL members in the United States and United Kingdom
There are currently 19 institutional BHL members in the United States and United Kingdom
BHL is now global with nodes around the world
BHL is now global with nodes around the world
BHL is governed through a Members Council that meets regularly
BHL Secretariat and Technical Staff: The Secretariat, which manages BHL on a day to day basis, is housed at Smithsonian Libraries; the technical staff is located at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Biodiversity Heritage Library Global Governance is lightweight and focused on the general directions of the BHL principles
BHL is governed through a Members Council that meets regularly
Through active digitization of BHL member institution content and careful harvesting of relevant content from willing digital library partners, BHL has grown to over 45 million pages (158,000 volumes) in just over 6 years.
Increase agreements with publishers of in copyright materials
Even more significant is the year to year growth, with CY 2014 seeing these numbers
The Machine is Us/ing Us: Increases use by other systems and machines, more than direct use by “people”
Flickr and BHL: 24+ million total views | 89K + images (March 2014)
BHL and Field Notes and Archival Materials
And quotes from users: May I compliment you on this splendid service? The Library's invaluable for my work on seasonal variability of climate and vector-borne disease in British India, 1875-1940.
And quotes from users: What an absolutely wonderful site. It is a treasure trove of information. Thank you!
And quotes from users: I really appreciate your work. The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an excellent resource that regularly helps my assistant and I obtain original descriptions for plants .... I feel so privileged to be working in a day in age when such resources are so readily available and easy to obtain
And quotes from users: I really appreciate your work. The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an excellent resource that regularly helps my assistant and I obtain original descriptions for plants .... I feel so privileged to be working in a day in age when such resources are so readily available and easy to obtain
Today, as in the start, BHL attempts to bring hard to find and necessary materials to researchers wherever they are. In the first years, we would create CDROMs and send them to Brasil; today, the researcher can use the same books on mobile devices
Today, as in the start, BHL attempts to bring hard to find and necessary materials to researchers wherever they are. In the first years, we would create CDROMs and send them to Brasil; today, the researcher can use the same books on mobile devices
Today, as in the start, BHL attempts to bring hard to find and necessary materials to researchers wherever they are. In the first years, we would create CDROMs and send them to Brasil; today, the researcher can use the same books on mobile devices
BHL is Community / Partnership / Science / Content … working together, BHL serves its mission: The Biodiversity Heritage Library improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.