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Inspiring Discovery through Free Access to Biodiversity Knowledge.
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
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2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the Biodiversity Heritage Library! Since 2006, BHL has transformed the way scientists, researchers, and librarians around the world access knowledge about and study life on Earth. We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year with our #BHLat10 campaign, which explores our history, growth, collections, and impact on the global science community. Learn more and sign our birthday card to tell us what BHL means to you!
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As part of our 10th anniversary celebrations, we hosted a public BHL Day on 12 April at the Natural History Museum, London. The program highlighted BHL's impact on the global science community and featured speakers from biodiversity-related disciplines. Speakers for BHL Day included Ian Owens, Director of Science at the Natural History Museum, London (NHM); Gowan Dawson and Geoffrey Belknap from the University of Leicester; Jane Smith, Head of Library and Archives at NHM; and Martin R. Kalfatovic, BHL Program Director. The program's opening keynote speaker was Richard Lane, Consultant and Independent Advisor in Science and Museums and former Director of Science at NHM. The closing keynote was provided by Rod Page from the University of Glasgow and creator of BioStor. The program was followed by a reception, complete with a BHL birthday cake! Learn more and view the presentations.
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BHL Annual Meetings
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| | BHL partner representatives at the Open Partners Meeting. |
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In conjunction with BHL Day, BHL partner representatives participated in the BHL Annual Meetings, co-hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Natural History Museum, London (NHM). The Global Meeting at NHM on 12 April resulted in a decision to merge the existing BHL Global group more formally into the BHL as the BHL Global Committee, allowing BHL's global partners to have a clearer voice in the BHL. The Open Partners Meeting at Kew on 13 April provided an opportunity for the BHL Secretariat and Partners to report out on initiatives and accomplishments since last year's Annual Meeting. Finally, the BHL Members' Meeting at NHM on 14 April included discussions of bylaws revisions, a report from the Global Business Meeting, discussions of user-feedback, interlibrary loan, and a report from the Membership Committee. Learn more.
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New Member, BHL Australia
BHL Australia has joined BHL as a Member! BHL Australia was founded in 2010 by the Atlas of Living Australia with Museum Victoria as the Lead Agency undertaking the daily work of running the project. To date, five institutions participate in the BHL Australia program, including Museum Victoria, Australian Museum, Queensland Museum, South Australian Museum, and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. BHL Australia represents BHL's sixteenth Member. Learn more.
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New Affiliates
The Smithsonian Institution Archives, which captures, preserves, and makes available to the public the archives related to the history of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Canadian Museum of Nature, which holds one of the oldest natural history collections in Canada, have joined the Biodiversity Heritage Library as Affiliates. Smithsonian Institution Archives is a long-standing collaborator with BHL through The Field Book Project, and has to date contributed nearly 800 field books to BHL. The Canadian Museum of Nature represents BHL's first Partner in Canada. The BHL consortium now consists of twelve Affiliates and sixteen Members.
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Buy a Pillow, Help Support Biodiversity Research!
Have you ever wished you could purchase cards or pillows decorated with BHL images? Well, now you can at BHL's CafePress store! The store includes products celebrating our 10th anniversary and featuring images from our collection. We've launched the store with a small selection of images from BHL, but we'll be expanding it in the future as we continue to develop the store. 100% of the proceeds that BHL receives from the sale of these products will be used to digitize more books for BHL. Start shopping today! |
| | BHL Products in CafePress |
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BHL at Museum Day Live!
BHL participated alongside Smithsonian Libraries in the Museum Day Live! career fair hosted by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. on 12 March. The event was a nationwide effort to encourage all people - especially women and girls in underserved communities - to explore the United States' museums, cultural institutions, zoos, aquariums, parks, and libraries, which all offered free admission for the day. The career fair exposed young people to the variety of careers available in museums and libraries. Learn more and explore some of the different library careers that are needed to make BHL a reality.
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BHL at BioBlitz 2016!
BHL participated in BioBlitz 2016 in Washington, D.C. on 20-21 May. A BioBlitz focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. In this special edition of the BioBlitz, held in conjunction with the National Park Service's centenary, the D.C. BioBlitz was accompanied by a two-day Biodiversity Festival on the National Mall at Constitution Gardens. BHL and Smithsonian Libraries' staff hosted a booth at the Festival that featured hands-on activities including coloring projects, online exhibitions, and a plant ID challenge that demonstrated how BHL can help visitors identify nature around them. Booth volunteers interacted with over 320 people during the course of the 2-day event and had a unique opportunity to expose young people (K-12) to the rich variety of free resources that BHL has to offer. Learn more.
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| | Visitors to the BHL Booth at BioBlitz 2016 |
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Explore BHL's Impact on the Global Science Community!
What impact has BHL had on global science, taxonomy, and the bioinformatics field? Martin R. Kalfatovic, BHL Program Director, interviewed Rod Page, Professor at the University of Glasgow and creator of BioStor, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as part of our #BHLat10 celebrations to find out. Watch the interview now!
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| | Let's Talk Impact: An Interview with Rod Page |
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Support BHL
Providing researchers with free access to biodiversity knowledge is critical to saving life on Earth. Help us accomplish this goal by donating to BHL today!
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109,000+ Titles | 182,000+ Volumes | 49+ Million Pages
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