The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), a consortium of institutions working to digitize biodiversity literature and make it freely available online at www.biodiversitylibrary.org, is helping scientists identify and conserve life on Earth. Scientists have long considered that inadequate access to the published literature is one of the chief impediments to the efficiency of research in the field. By removing boundaries to access, BHL is strengthening scientific and conservation efforts on every continent. The BHL currently provides access to nearly 40 million pages and over 50,000 images, free and available to the public online.
Category: Biodiversity Heritage Library
A treatment we commonly perform in the Conservation Lab is re-backing. A weak point in many case bound books is the gutter. When it fails the spine typically deteriorates and falls off the back of the book. A re-backing replaces the original spine and enables the book to be used again without sustaining further damage.
On July 10-14, 2012, Smithsonian Libraries staff members JJ Ford, Gilbert Borrego and Grace Costantino attended the 8th Annual Wikimania Conference in Washington, D.C. to explore possible collaborations between Wikipedia and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), of which the Smithsonian Libraries is a founding member, is an open access, global digital library initiative dedicated to digitizing the biodiversity-related materials held in the collections of BHL consortium member libraries.
On June 10-15, 2012, Dr. Nancy Gwinn (Smithsonian Libraries Director and Biodiversity Heritage Library Executive Committee Chair),Martin Kalfatovic (Assistant Director, Digital Services Division, Smithsonian Libraries and BHL Program Director), and Grace Costantino (BHL Program Manager), along with several other BHL colleagues from across the US, traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to attend a series of meetings aimed at creating a BHL for sub-Saharan Africa.
Nancy E. Gwinn, director of Smithsonian Libraries, and Martin R. Kalfatovic, associate director for Digital Services at Smithsonian Libraries, have been appointed to new positions within the global Biodiversity Heritage Library.
The other day, seeing this article in the Washington Post reminded me of my days at the National Arboretum (USNA) when the Arboretum cherry trees as well as the tidal more »
Seasons Greetings from the Smithsonian Libraries and the Biodiversity Heritage Library! Rene Martin, Atlas de poche des mammifères de France, de la Suisse romane et de la Belgique. . more »