BHL Overview and Demo presented at the Mpala Research Centre, May 22, 2017

1. Free & Open Access to
Biodiversity Literature
An Introduction to the
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Carolyn Sheffield
BHL Program Manager

2. “The cultivation
of natural history
cannot be
efficiently carried
out without
reference to an
extensive library.”
Charles Darwin, et al (1847)

3. Natural history literature and archives contain
information that is critical to studying life on Earth.
SPECIES
DESCRIPTIONS
DISTRIBUTION
RECORDS
HISTORY OF
SCIENTIFIC
DISCOVERY
CLIMATE
RECORDS
INFORMATION
ON EXTINCT
SPECIES
SCIENTIFIC
OBSERVATIONS
ECOSYSTEM
PROFILES
SCIENTIFIC
ILLUSTRATIONS

4. “Science is all about disseminating knowledge
and building upon what has come before, yet so
much of our knowledge of plants and animals
has remained inaccessible to those who could
make use of it. This has been a big part of the
‘taxonomic impediment.’”
Dr. John Sullivan
Evolutionary Biologist
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
Cornell University

5. The Biodiversity Heritage Library
is providing free and open online
access to library collections from
around the world.

6. Inspiring Discovery through Free Access
to Biodiversity Knowledge
10 years of inspiring discovery
15th-21st centuries
through
free & open access
to biodiversity literature & archives
from the
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.

7. The Biodiversity Heritage Library
(www.biodiversitylibrary.org) is an open access digital
library for biodiversity literature and archives.

8. 51+MILLION
PAGES
TITLES VOLUMES
119,000+ 201,000+
175+MILLIONINSTANCES OF TAXONOMIC NAMES
615+IN-COPYRIGHT TITLES LICENSED FOR BHL
AGREEMENTS
WITH 260+
LICENSORS
*Stats as of May 2017

9. BHL is a Global Consortium
18MEMBERS
AS OF MAY 2017
17AFFILIATES
60+ WORLDWIDE PARTNERS

10. *As of May 2017
MEMBERS
• American Museum of Natural History Library
• BHL Australia
• BHL México
• Cornell University Library
• Field Museum of Natural History Library
• Harvard University Botany Libraries
• Harvard University, Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
• Library of Congress
• The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, The New York
Botanical Garden
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Peter H. Raven
Library
• Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle
• National Library Board, Singapore
• Natural History Museum Library, London
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Library, Art &
Archives
• Smithsonian Libraries
• United States Geological Survey Libraries
Program
• University Library, University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign
• University of Toronto Libraries

11. *As of May 2017
AFFILIATES
• Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel
University, Library and Archives
• BHL Africa
• Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire -
Lausanne
• California Academy of Sciences Library
• Canadian Museum of Nature
• Chicago Botanic Garden, Lenhardt Library
• Internet Archive
• Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic
Garden
• Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI
Library)
• Mendel Museum
• Narodni Museum (National Museum, Prague)
• Natural History Museum Los Angeles County
• Naturalis Biodiversity Center
• Smithsonian Institution Archives
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, National
Agricultural Library

12. *As of May 2017
BHL Africa
KENYA
• African Conserva.on Centre
• Interna.onal Centre of Insect Physiology and
Ecology
• Kenya Wildlife Service
• Na.onal Museums of Kenya
• University of Nairobi
SOUTH AFRICA
• South African Ins.tute of Aqua.c Biodiversity
• South African Na.onal Biodiversity Ins.tute
• University of Pretoria
UGANDA
• Makerere University
• Na.onal Environment Management Authority
• Na.onal Library of Uganda: nlu.go.ug
• Uganda Na.onal Council for Science and
Technology
• The Uganda Society

13. Executive Committee
BHL GOVERNANCE
BHL Members’ Council
IMMEDIATE
PAST-CHAIR
Dr. Nancy E. Gwinn
Smithsonian Libraries
CHAIR
Constance Rinaldo
Harvard, Ernst Mayr
Library, MCZ
VICE-CHAIR
Jane Smith
Natural History
Museum, London
SECRETARY
Doug Holland
Missouri Botanical
Garden

14. Secretariat
BHL GOVERNANCE
DIRECTOR
Martin R. Kalfatovic
Program Manager
Carolyn Sheffield
Collections
Manager
Bianca Crowley
Outreach &
Communication
Manager
Grace Costantino

15. Technical Advisory Group
BHL GOVERNANCE
Martin R. Kalfatovic
BHL Program Director
Carolyn Sheffield
BHL Program Manager
Mike Lichtenberg
BHL Developer
Joel Richard
Smithsonian Libraries
Susan Lynch
The New York
Botanical Garden

16. FUNDING SOURCES
• Federal Funding
• Federal allocation to Smithsonian
Libraries
• Member and Affiliate Dues
• Institutional Endowments
• Grants
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• Arcadia Fund
• Council on Library & Information
Resources
• Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation
• Institute of Museum & Library Services
• JRS Foundation
• MacArthur Foundation
• Mellon Foundation
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Richard Lounsbery Foundation
• Donations
• Institutional Subventions
• In-Kind Contributions

17. CASH & IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS
DIRECT STAFF
$1,424,792.54
VALUE
OF
MEMBER & AFFILIATE
CONTRIBUTIONS 2016
OTHER
$392,751.28
2015
VS
2016
TOTAL IN-KIND
CONTRIBUTIONS
2015
$1,358,908.20
2016
$1,817,543.82
27.26
TOTAL MEMBER &
AFFILIATE FTEs
WORKING ON BHL
IN 2016

18. “BHL provides access to literature that would
otherwise be impossible to find or even know
that it existed. It is important to have access to
a biodiversity library that has done so well to
document the past, as this is vital to our
understanding of the future.”
Dean Janiak
Biologist
Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

19. BHL usage across Africa
213,145 sessions over the last 5 years
18,750 of those from Kenya alone

20. BHL Africa Workshop
Na.onal Museums of Kenya, September 24-26, 2015
22
BHL Africa content:
22,347 pages
101 items

21. 6.2+MILLION
TOTAL USERS TO DATE
AVERAGE MONTHLY
USERS109,000+
11.8+ MILLION
TOTAL WEBSITE VISITS TO DATE
AVERAGE MONTHLY
VISITS197,000+
VISITS FROM
243COUNTRIES &
TERRITORIES
*Stats as of May 2017

22. 72,500+
TOTAL FOLLOWERS ON
SOCIAL MEDIA
TOTAL FOLLOWERS
13,000+
TOTAL FOLLOWERS
12,000+
TOTAL FOLLOWERS
35,800+
TOTAL FOLLOWERS
5,200+
AVERAGE MONTHLY
READERS (CY17)
2,200+
FOLLOW @BIODIVLIBRARY
*Stats as of May 2017
TOTAL FOLLOWERS
5,800+
TOTAL FOLLOWERS
700+

23. 110,000+
IMAGES IN FLICKR
TOTAL IMAGES
TAGGED32,900+
243+MILLION
TOTAL VIEWS ON IMAGES
OF TOTAL FLICKR
COLLECTION TAGGED
TAGGED IMAGES IN
EOL
30% 18,000+
BHL FLICKR NAMED 1 OF WIRED’S
27 MUST-FOLLOW FEEDS IN
THE WORLD OF SCIENCE
*Stats as of May 2017.
WWW.FLICKR.COM/BIODIVLIBRARY

24. BHL collaborates with and contributes
content to a variety of partners…

25. AWARDS
• Digital Library Federation (DLF) 2016
Community/Capacity Award (joint recipient with
Archive of American Broadcasting).
2016
• Internet Archive Hero Award. Global Leaders
in Sharing Knowledge.
2015
• Laureate. IDG’s Computerworld Honors
Program.
• Charles Robert Long Award of Extraordinary
Merit. Council on Botanical and Horticultural
Libraries.
2013
• Victorian Government Arts Leadership
Recognition Award (BHL Australia).
2012
• John Thackray Medal. The Society for the
History of Natural History.
2011
• Outstanding Collaboration Award. Association
for Library Collections & Technical Services
(ALCTS).
2010

26. A Commitment to Open Access…
BHL is a charter signatory of the Bouchout Declaration
for Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management.
Fundamental principles of the Declaration:
Free & Open Use
Policies to Foster Free &
Open Access
Persistent Identifiers
Tracking Identifiers to
Ensure Attribution
Infrastructure, Standards &
Protocols to Improve Access
Linked Data
Sustainable Knowledge Management
Registers for Content &
Services

27. SPECIES NAMED IN HONOR OF BHL
Vargapupa biheli
“We may think it is natural to have old literature
online, but if we didn't, we would have serious
trouble finding the relevant publications. Therefore
I thought BHL definitely deserves a new species
named after it for the help it provided.”
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3937.1.1
Dr. Barna Páll-Gergely

28. “BHL is radically changing the status quo
and democratizing access to knowledge
about biodiversity. Now anyone in the world
has instant access to the original species
description in a couple of clicks.”
Dr. John Sullivan
Evolutionary Biologist
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
Cornell University

29. Thank You!
Questions?
Carolyn Sheffield
22 May 2017 | Mpala Research Centre
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