Earth Day 2016!

April 22, 2016, 5:30 am

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By: Laurel E. Byrnes
Outreach and Social Media Volunteer
Biodiversity Heritage Library 

Happy Earth Day!  This special day for recognizing and fighting the serious and negative effects of climate change began on April 22nd, 1970.  On that first Earth Day, 20 million Americans peacefully demonstrated to shine light on the devastating effects of modern life and production on wildlife and the climate.  Soon after this the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and other laws meant to protect the environment were passed by the government.  By the 1990s Earth Day expanded and came to be celebrated by over 200 million people in 141 countries--and now more than 1 billion people all around the world participate on Earth Day in order to help the environment.

Climate change refers to changes happening to the world climate, which are linked to rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and shifting flower and plant blooming times.  Contributions to human-induced climate change include the burning of fossil fuels, which releases heat-trapping gases into the air.  Climate change affects biodiversity of all kinds and in all areas of the world, often by depriving animals of their habitats and food sources, or changing their living conditions dramatically and dangerously.

Deforestation, another driving cause of climate change, is the cutting down of trees on a very large scale, and it happens most often due to agricultural reasons, financial reasons, or human expansion into new areas to live.  Millions of species lose their habitats as a result of deforestation.  In addition, without the trees to provide a forest canopy to block the sun during the day and capture heat at night, extreme temperature swings result and can negatively impact plants and animals in the area.  

Let's preserve our beautiful forests--and plant new ones! Image at BHL here.

There are lots of things that you can do this Earth Day to help fight climate change.  One of the most important things people and organizations do is plant trees.  This short read, Trees Are the Answer. . .to America’s Growing Environmental Concerns, is just as relevant today as when it was published.  Trees fight climate change by absorbing excess CO2 from the atmosphere.  CO2 is harmful to the climate and is created by such things as car emissions.  In one year, an acre of mature trees can absorb enough CO2 to make up for a car that drove 26,000 miles (source).  In addition to absorbing CO2, trees absorb other climate pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and ammonia, and act as a filter to capture harmful particulates in their leaves and bark.  In addition to planting trees, you can take part in cleaning local parks and streams, start composting to turn food waste into soil, eat less meat to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are a byproduct of the meat industry, stop using disposable plastic which can kill wildlife and destroy ecosystems, buy local produce to reduce the carbon emissions needed to drive in non-local produce, drive less to reduce your carbon footprint (try biking for some healthy fun!), sign up to stop receiving junk mail which wastes paper, and recycle electronic devices which are normally thrown into landfills that pollute the environment.

Planting trees will help combat climate change. Image at BHL here.

If you are a budding naturalist, you can help the climate and biodiversity by becoming a Citizen Naturalist--anyone can do this, including kids!  Citizen Naturalists monitor their local ecosystems and threats to wildlife and submit their observations to citizen science programs.  There are many groups dedicated to wildlife observation to help protect wildlife and fight climate change, and some of the fun animals you can help observe include frogs, birds, fireflies, and Monarch Butterflies.  If you want to work alongside a professional scientist, you can become a Citizen Science volunteer, where you assist scientists in their research to help analyze and combat the effects of climate change.  Check out the National Wildlife Federation’s page about Citizen Naturalists and Scientists for more information about groups to join and project ideas: NWF Citizen Science Resources.  You can also get involved with Citizen Science through BHL: Click Here for BHL Citizen Science Information!

Citizen Naturalists and Citizen Scientists can take note of the wildlife in their backyards and local parks. Image at BHL here.

How do you plan to get involved this Earth Day?  Tell us below!

www.earthday.org

https://www.epa.gov/earthday

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Citizen-Science.aspx

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/

http://climate.nasa.gov/

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Solenne Coutagne visits Smithsonian Libraries

April 27, 2016, 5:30 am

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Solenne Coutagne of the Bibliotheque Interuniversitaire de Santé (BIU Santé) in Paris visited the Smithsonian Libraries during a tour of library and museum collections in the DC area. Solenne is the manager of digital projects at BIU Santé, the largest medical library in France.

On 19 April, she met with Martin Kalfatovic and Carolyn Sheffield to discuss digitization initiatives and learn about BHL’s workflows.  While on site, Jacqueline Chapman and Daniel Euphrat provided a tour of the Libraries’ scanning facility and overview of BHL’s scanning operations at the National Museum of Natural History.

As part of her Smithsonian tour, Solenne also met with Leslie Overstreet in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History Rare Books and Lilla Vekerdy in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology.

BIU Santé has digitized thousands of items related to the history of medicine literature and Solenne was excited to learn more about BHL's operations and the Internet Archive workflows and equipment.

Madame Vincent's Studies of Flowers and Fruits

April 28, 2016, 5:30 am

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By: Leora Siegel
Senior Director, Lenhardt Library 
Chicago Botanic Garden

Études de fleurs et de fruits: peints d'après nature by Henriette Vincent is a book of beautiful botanical illustrations.  With 48 color plates of stipple engravings of flowers and fruits, this work was first published in Paris, France in 1820. This is a scarce volume with only a few copies known to exist in libraries.

Tulip = Tulipe. Vincent, Henriette. Études de fleurs et de fruits: peints d'après nature. 1820. Digitized by the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lenhardt Library. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48344872.

In his Flower and fruit prints of the 18th and early 19th centuries, Gordon Dunthorne calls this book "...among the most exquisite of all flower prints in their beauty and delicacy of execution."

Among the fruit depicted are plums, currants, cherries, apricots, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, raspberries, and strawberries. The flower assortment includes tulip, daffodil, jasmine, pansy, lilac, hyacinth, iris, nasturtium, and roses in white, red, and pink varieties.

Lily = Lis du Japon. Vincent, Henriette. Études de fleurs et de fruits: peints d'après nature. 1820. Digitized by the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lenhardt Library. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48344832.

Within these vibrant colored plates, Madame Vincent incorporates imperfections on the fruit, leaves and stems and adds moths, ladybug, and dew drops. True to size, shape, and color, when I look at her work, I feel as though I'm seeing her plant sample in its true form.

Plum = Prune de Monsieur. Vincent, Henriette. Études de fleurs et de fruits: peints d'après nature. 1820. Digitized by the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lenhardt Library. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48344874.

As was proper etiquette for women at this time, what you don’t see are roots, seeds, and reproductive plant parts, which would be included in scientific works of this era.

Henriette Antoinette Vincent (1786-1830). Image used with permission from her descendent.

Madame Vincent was a student of renowned botanical artists Pierre-Joseph Redouté and Gerard van Spaendonck and truly learned her craft from the masters. She had the opportunity to exhibit her work in the Paris Salon about the time this volume was published.

The plates are signed "Peint par Mme. Vincent, gravé par Lambert aîné," which translates to "Painted by Mrs. Vincent, engraved by Lambert elder."

Explore this magnificent work in BHL, digitized from the collections of the Chicago Botanic Garden Lenhardt Library, and explore all of the illustrations in Flickr.

Currant = Groseilles. Vincent, Henriette. Études de fleurs et de fruits: peints d'après nature. 1820. Digitized by the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lenhardt Library. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48344870.

Kam Wies helps BHL "Moving Walls" Move On

May 3, 2016, 5:30 am

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When I learned of the amazing opportunity to intern at the Smithsonian Libraries, I instantly knew I wanted to be a part of it. I was lucky enough to be chosen to be the Biodiversity Heritage Library In-Copyright Collection Management Intern. I knew the BHL was a digital library but, having no previous experience with a purely digital collection, I couldn’t begin to start making a guess. What I ended up doing was so much cooler than anything I could have anticipated. I got to spend the whole week pushing my attention to detail and love of consistency to the limits. Now that may sound boring to some but this is the kind of thing I do at home for fun.

From left: Jacqueline Chapman, Bianca Crowley, Kam Wies

Because BHL is a digital library, copyright plays a huge role in their work. Some of the materials being digitized are still under copyright, which means that the BHL has to get permission, in writing, for the materials to be added to their collection.

Getting permission is just step one. Some copyright holders ask that there be what’s called a “moving wall” (or embargo). In academic publishing, access is sometimes only allowed to paid subscribers so publishers may not want their most current materials to be made accessible for free (see Wikipedia for more information). This can be a one year moving wall or even a fourteen year moving wall. It all depends on the wishes of the publisher.

BHL wants to make sure they can provide as much access as possible and having the option for a moving wall available to a publisher allows for that. The issue with having a bunch of publications that all have different moving walls is you then have to keep track of and keep up with them every year.

BHL manages this process by using an issue tracking system (again, see Wikipedia for more information). They create ‘issues’ for each publication title that has a moving wall in order to make sure it is being updated every year as appropriate. My first task was to make sure all of the permissions titles that had moving walls (about 60 of them), had open and up to date issues in the tracking system. I also had to make sure that there was an issue for each title because some publications had multiple titles and each title needed an issue created for it. I really loved this. Making sure information is accurate across multiple platforms (issue tracker, BHL website, permissions titles spreadsheet) and consistently formatted means that work can run easier, no matter who in the world is using the system.

Once I completed that introductory task, I moved on to the process of ‘reconciling moving walls’. I had to review each moving wall issue in the tracking system to make sure they were up to date. For example, if a title had a 3 year moving wall, 2013 should now be in BHL. I checked BHL to make sure the title was in the collection. Then reviewed the title for any gaps in the journal run or if we were missing the new year allowed due to the moving wall. If there were any missing materials, I had to find out which of the Contributor libraries had the missing materials and ask them to digitize it. There were so many little steps and details to pay attention to and I had fun delving into each issue.

This was a project that may have been created to help the BHL keep on point with their digitization of new materials but it was built with me in mind: someone who can easily work across multiple platforms and screens, has an acute attention to detail and strong desire to achieve consistency. This week was so interesting and informative. I had so much fun not only doing the project for the BHL but meeting all the different people who make the Smithsonian Libraries run smoothly. We did tours of multiple libraries and learned so much about the collections and how the librarians help the researchers. I can only hope that when I graduate I find a job that is as much as fun as this internship has been.

-Kam Wies, SIL-BHL In-Copyright Collection Management Intern

Biodiversity Heritage Library Adds BHL Australia as a New Member

May 4, 2016, 9:00 am

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The Biodiversity Heritage Library is pleased to welcome BHL Australia as a new 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. Over the past six years, these institutions have contributed journal titles, rare books, monographs and field notebooks to the BHL collection, amounting to over 156,000 pages. BHL Australia represents BHL’s 16th Member.

A three-way Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between BHL, the Atlas of Living Australia and Museum Victoria. Dr. Elycia Wallis, Project Lead and Manager of Online Collections at Museum Victoria, will be the official representative to the BHL Members’ Council on behalf of BHL Australia.

Dr. Nancy E Gwinn (left), Director of Smithsonian Libraries and Chair of the BHL Members' Council, and Dr. Elycia Wallis, BHL Australia Project Lead and Manager of Online Collections at Museum Victoria, signing the BHL MOU. Back Row, Left to Right: Constance Rinaldo (Librarian of the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University | Vice-Chair, BHL Members' Council); Jane Smith (Head of Library and Archives, Natural History Museum, London | Secretary, BHL Members' Council); Carolyn Sheffield (Program Manager, BHL); Martin R. Kalfatovic (Associated Director, Digital Programs and Initiatives, Smithsonian Libraries | Program Director, BHL).

As BHL Members, BHL Australia will continue to digitize content from Australian library collections as well as work to establish new partnerships with institutions around the continent. The BHL Australia project team, which includes a Project Coordinator, Digitization Coordinator, Technical Officer, and a group of dedicated digitization volunteers, will continue to provide support, expertise, and guidance to all of the participating institutions as well as the BHL family around the world, ensuring the ongoing growth and success of the BHL program.

“I am personally very excited that BHL Australia has now become a full Member of BHL,” said Project Lead, Dr. Elycia Wallis. “Our Australian project has grown into a great success, and I look forward to the new challenges of actively contributing to the wider governance of the consortium.”

Since 2012, BHL’s consortium has operated within a tiered structure comprised of Members and Affiliates. While Affiliates can contribute content, provide technical services, and participate in select committees, participation at the full Member level allows for greater institutional impact, including the right to vote on strategic directives, help govern the BHL program and use central digitization funds. Those participating at the Member level also commit to an annual fee that helps support BHL’s financial stability.

“BHL Australia has been a key partner in the BHL family for many years and has been integral to the success of our global expansion and technical development,” affirmed Martin R. Kalfatovic, BHL Program Director. “For example, our current website is based on designs developed by the BHL Australia team. We are thrilled to welcome BHL Australia as a Member and look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts to provide free and open access to the world’s biodiversity literature.”

Explore the BHL Australia collection today.

About Atlas of Living Australia 
The Atlas of Living Australia is a free, online resource that aggregates biodiversity data and information from a number of sources including museum and herbarium specimen collections; government and university research departments; and citizen science projects small and large. It currently provides access to over 60 million specimen records. The Atlas of Living Australia is federally funded as a part of Australia’s National Research Infrastructure for Australia (NCRIS).

About Museum Victoria 
Museum Victoria, located in Melbourne in south-eastern Australia, is Australia’s largest public museum organization. It houses a collection of over 17 million objects, documents, photographs and specimens. It has three public museums: Scienceworks; the Immigration Museum; and Melbourne Museum, which also features the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre. The World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building is situated adjacent to Melbourne Museum. Museum Victoria’s library has a collection that dates back to the founding of the institution in 1854 and beyond.

Expanding Access (EABL) Project Brings New In-Copyright Content to BHL

May 5, 2016, 5:30 am

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In case you missed our last post recapping the in-copyright content in BHL over 2015, we secured agreements with 23 licensors to provide 34 in-copyright titles for free and open access via our online collection.

BHL is thrilled that for the first few months of 2016, we have gotten permission to add 20 new in-copyright titles! Why such a sudden bounty? We have the work of the new IMLS-Funded Project: Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (EABL) to thank for securing the large majority of these agreements and for performing the work of integrating this new content into our collection. Some of the titles below are from small natural history organizations that had previously digitized their content but lacked a way to have it represented in BHL. In the coming months, as larger content providers benefit from EABL assistance, the list will grow to include unique titles never before digitized.

Our latests in-copyright titles are:

1. Arachnologische Mitteilungen from the Arachnologische Gesellschaft 
2. Sage Notes from the Idaho Native Plant Society
3. Roosevelt Wild Life Station:
1. Roosevelt Wild Life Annals
2. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin
4. Long Island Botanical Society Newsletter from the Long Island Botanical Society
5. California Native Plant Society: 
1. The Bay Leaf from the East Bay Chapter
2. Mimulus Memo from the Kern Chapter
3. The Pipevine from the Mount Lassen Chapter
6. “A short Flora of Berwickshire” by M E Braithwaite (2014)
7. Golden Gate Audubon Society’sThe Gull
8. Quaestiones Entomologicae of the University of Alberta
9. The Echinoderm Newsletter from the Smithsonian Institution
10. Wisconsin Entomological Society 
1. Wisconsin Entomological Society Newsletter
2. “Checklist of Wisconsin Dragonflies” (1993)
3. “Wisconsin Millipeds” (1995)
4. “Checklist of Wisconsin Centipedes (Chilopoda)” (1997)
5. “Checklist of Wisconsin Butterflies” (2002)
11. Linnaean Society of New York
1. Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York
2. Abstract of the proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New York
3. Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New York

As a reminder, our in-copyright titles are availble under a Creative Commons license as specified in the volume metadata. Would you like to learn more about reusing CC licensed content? Please see our Licensing & Copyright page as linked from the footer of our website:

The future of in-copyright content in BHL is sure to surge under the leadership of the EABL project. With a goal of acquiring content from over 100 first-time contributors over 2 years, EABL will bring free and open access to invaluable content to benefit scientific research for years to come.

-Bianca Crowley | Digital Collections Manager

BHL Day: Celebrating 10 Years of Open Access to Biodiversity Literature

May 9, 2016, 6:30 am

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2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. As part of our #BHLat10 celebrations, and in conjunction with our Annual Members Meeting, we hosted a public BHL Day on April 12 at the Natural History Museum, London. The program highlighted BHL's impact on the global science community and featured speakers from biodiversity-related disciplines.

Richard Lane giving the opening keynote at BHL Day.

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. See the links at the end of this post to view the presentations by each speaker.

Rod Page giving the closing keynote at BHL Day.

BHL Day also afforded us an excellent opportunity to share the exciting news that BHL Australia has joined BHL as our 16th Member! We marked the occasion with a ceremonial signing of the BHL Memorandum of Understanding between BHL, Museum Victoria, and the Atlas of Living Australia during the event. Learn more.

Dr. Nancy E Gwinn (left), Director of Smithsonian Libraries and Chair of the BHL Members' Council, and Dr. Elycia Wallis, BHL Australia Project Lead and Manager of Online Collections at Museum Victoria, signing the BHL MOU. Back Row, Left to Right: Constance Rinaldo (Librarian of the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University | Vice-Chair, BHL Members' Council); Jane Smith (Head of Library and Archives, Natural History Museum, London | Secretary, BHL Members' Council); Carolyn Sheffield (Program Manager, BHL); Martin R. Kalfatovic (Associated Director, Digital Programs and Initiatives, Smithsonian Libraries | Program Director, BHL).

And of course, no celebration is complete without a cake! BHL Day culminated in a reception which included a special #BHLat10 dessert.

BHL at 10 cake!

You can explore our live-tweeting of the event on our @BioDivLibrary account under the hashtag #BHLDay.

A toast to celebrate 10 years of inspiring discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge.

BHL Day was a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate the impact that BHL has had on scientific and historical research for the past ten years. We extend a special thanks to the Natural History Museum, London, for hosting the event and to the NHM Library staff who helped make this event a reality. We're also grateful to all of our marvelous speakers for showcasing the importance, history, and growth of our library. We look forward to continuing our work to inspire discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge for many decades to come.

Links to BHL Day Presentations:

• "Biodiversity Heritage Library: Origins and Impact." Richard Lane.
• "Welcome to the (Digital) NHM." Ian Owens.
• "An Overview of the Biodiversity Heritage Library." Jane Smith.
• "Different Perspectives: Multi-disciplinary Use of BHL. The Case of Sciencegossip.org." Gowan Dawson and Geoffrey Belknap.
• "The Biodiversity Heritage Library: 10+1 and Beyond: Looking Forward." Martin R. Kalfatovic.
• "BHL, BioStor, and Beyond." Rod Page.

Report on the 2016 BHL Annual meetings, London

May 10, 2016, 5:30 am

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2016 BHL Group Photo

In conjunction with the BHL Day event at the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, BHL partner representatives got down to work.

The combined 2016 BHL Joint Meeting was co-hosted by Natural History Museum, London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 12-15 April 2016.

The first order of business was the 7th Global Meeting which took place on 12 April 2016 at the Natural History Museum. Representatives from all BHL's global partners (with the exception of BHL México) were in attendance. A key outcome of this meeting was to merge the existing Global BHL group into the BHL as the newly formed BHL Global Committee (BGC). The BGC recommended to the BHL Executive Committee Anne-Lise Fourier (BHL Africa) as the Chair of this new committee. The BGC and global BHL concerns are also now instantiated in the BHL Bylaws and the BHL's global partners will now have a clearer voice in the BHL.

Zheping Xu & Jinzhong Cui

Nancy E. Gwinn, Ely Wallis, Lawrence Monda

On the 13th, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew hosted the Open Partners Meeting where the Secretariat and Partners reported out on initiatives and accomplishments since the last meeting. Attendees included BHL Members, Affiliates, and Partners as well as a handful of invited guests including Dmitry Schigel from GBIF, Rod Page (BioStor), and Laurence Bénichou and Alice Lemaire (Natural History Museum of Paris). Bob Corrigan from the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) presented on current EOL activities and some plans for the 10th anniversary of EOL in 2017. The day concluded with a reception at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art where we were welcomed by Acting Librarian Fiona Ainsworth and Chris Mills (former Kew Librarian and representative to the BHL Members' Council).

BHL Open Partners Meeting, RBG Kew

On the 14th, the Members’ Business Meeting was held at NHM. The agenda 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 (Jane Smith). BHL took this opportunity to thank Marty Schlabach, who will retire later this year, for his service as the BHL representative from Cornell University Library; likewise Eric Chin (National Archives, Singapore) was recognized. Eric is stepping down from his role as BHL Singapore representative and is succeeded by Wai Yin Pryke (National Library of Singapore).

Nancy E. Gwinn & Marty Schlabach

Nancy E. Gwinn & Wai Yin Pryke

Slides from the Secretariat presentations are available here:

• 2016 Program Director's Report (Martin R. Kalfatovic)
• 2016 Program Managers' Report (Carolyn A. Sheffield)
• 2016 Collections' Managers' Report (Bianca Crowley)
• 2016 Outreach & Communications Manager's Report (Grace Costantino)

Many thanks to Jane Smith (Natural History Museum), David Iggulden (Kew) and their teams for hosting these successful meetings and events!

Nancy E. Gwinn, Jane Smith & David Iggulden

Selected other photos from the meeting:

Nancy E. Gwinn & Fiona Ainsworth Reception at RBG Kew

Reception at RBG Kew

Grace Costantino, Alison Harding, Constance Rinaldo Periscope filming at Natural History Museum, Tring

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BioBlitz 2016 in Washington, D.C.

May 11, 2016, 5:30 am

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BioBlitz 2016 is coming to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. May 20-21, and BHL is participating!

According to the National Geographic website:

"A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get an overall count of the plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms that live in a place."

For the past ten years, National Geographic and the National Park Service have hosted BioBlitzes in various national parks each year. This year's event is particularly special, as 2016 marks the National Park Service's centennial. To celebrate, over 250 BioBlitzes are happening throughout the country this year.

The cornerstone BioBlitz is in Washington, D.C., May 20-21, and it will be accompanied by a two-day Biodiversity Festival on the National Mall at Constitution Gardens. The Festival, open 9am-5pm EDT, May 20-21, will feature hands-on science exhibits, food and art, as well as family-friendly entertainment and activities.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is participating in the Biodiversity Festival with a booth showcasing BHL's free online biodiversity collections. 

The booth will demonstrate how these resources can be used to help identify and learn more about the plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms that visitors might encounter both during the BioBlitz and around their own homes. We'll also have fun hands-on activities including coloring projects, online games, and image tagging which will help make it easier for people to find images of organisms from around the world.

Follow #BioBlitz2016 on social media to learn more about the BioBlitz and other planned activities around the country. If you're in the Washington, D.C. area, we hope you'll plan to participate in the BioBlitz and stop by our booth at the Biodiversity Festival:

WHERE: Constitution Gardens, National Mall 17th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC 
DATES: Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21
TIME: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Learn more on the National Geographic website.

Undergraduates and the BHL

May 12, 2016, 5:30 am

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"Is the bald eagle really bald?"

This was the question that a recent history of science undergraduate class at Harvard University had to answer with the help of BHL. Specifically, students were required to locate Mark Catesby's 1731 plate of the bald eagle in BHL and use the accompanying text to determine the accuracy of the bird's moniker.

The White-Headed Eagle. Catesby, Mark. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. vol. 1, 1731. pl. 1. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40753120. Digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Mary Sears, Head of Public Services at the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, instructed the class on how to use BHL to satisfy the assignment. Instructing students on the use of BHL is something Mary has done for some time now.

Mary Sears.

"We present the BHL to groups of students, when their class visits the library, and also use BHL as a reference tool when students are working on individual projects," explains Mary. "Typically, a class visit involves an exhibit of historical volumes in Special Collections, and a tour and orientation on electronic resources. Faculty and students receive a bibliography of their Special Collections exhibit, with links to those works that are in BHL. The quality, immediacy and scope of the BHL make it an important tool when working with individual students, who are usually working on short-term projects. I regularly direct students to BHL who need taxonomic and anatomical works (and walk them through how to use it). Especially for students who are not science majors, the BHL is a dependable central source of scholarly articles and books in zoology and natural history. Our print journals and older monographs do not circulate, so the BHL’s high quality scans fill the students’ needs for accessible sources. Warren’s monograph on Mastodon giganteus (image below) is a great example. I have the volume downloaded at the reference desk and send it to a student at least once a year. They can see the original in Special Collections during library hours but use the BHL version from anywhere, 24/7."

Skeleton of Mastodon giganteus. Warren, John C. The Mastodon Giganteus of North America. 1852. pl. XXVII. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40681510. Digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Mary has been at the MCZ Ernst Mayr Library for twenty-five years. Her specialty is reference and research, but she also collaborates on circulation and other areas where the library intersects with the public. She is most active in the subject areas of marine biology, bryozoology, and scientific biography.

As the Ernst Mayr Library is a founding Member of the Biodiversity Heritage Library, Mary has been aware of BHL's existence since its launch in 2006. It has had an increasingly significant impact on her work over the past ten years.

"I have a very high opinion of BHL," affirms Mary. "It has impacted my work by making natural history journals and books easier to find and use. I am very fortunate to be in a library that contributes to the BHL: we have a solid collection of 19th century journals and many pre-1850 titles. As the repository has grown, I have experienced the shift from wondering whether a classic text will be in BHL to assuming that it will be. Now that so many important titles are there, I almost always use BHL scans instead of consulting a print volume in our Special Collections. Before BHL, I regularly went to Special Collections to confirm citations, make copies, etc. Being able to do those ordinary tasks remotely saves a lot of wear and tear on the collection. For works we do not own, I can have immediate access through the BHL to volumes that would have taken weeks and delicate negotiations (or microfilm!) [to obtain access to] twenty years ago."

Mary's favorite feature of BHL is the quality of the scans. As she describes, BHL's scan quality, "especially the plates, more especially the foldout plates, is vastly better than other online repositories." She also appreciates that downloading content from BHL "keeps getting better and easier." Thinking about future improvements, Mary hopes to see the runs of journal titles in BHL be extended to include more recent volumes. "It is difficult to negotiate copyrights, but it is a big win to have a whole run of a journal in the BHL," explains Mary.

Mary's favorite title in BHL demonstrates the value of having full journal runs in BHL.

"The Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (1863-current) is the primary publication of my institution and covers a vast array of zoological topics over a 150 year time span," says Mary. "I get a lot of questions about the works published by the MCZ and authors/historical figures associated with the Museum. Having the Bulletin available through BHL makes works easier to find, download and send, as well as taking pressure off of our print volumes."

New species Cassiopeia ndrosia. Agassiz, A. and A.G. Mayer. Acalephs from the Fiji Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, vol. 32 (9), 1899. pl. 14. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30426482. Digitized by the Gerstein - University of Toronto.

BHL has an active permissions program, which is working to secure licenses for more and more in-copyright titles. Recent work by the Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature project has resulted in a significant boost to the number of permissions agreements that BHL has secured over the past few months. See our recent blog post to explore the most recent in-copyright titles for which we've secured permission and to learn more about EABL.

So, is the bald eagle really bald? Nope, as you should be able to tell from Catesby's illustration. According to the National Park Service, "The term 'bald' comes from the word 'piebald,' meaning markings that are two colors, usually black and white."As Catesby writes, "This bird is called the Bald Eagle, both in Virginia and Carolina, though his head is as much feather'd as the other parts of his body."

BHL to the rescue for students, librarians, scientists, and readers everywhere!

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This post may contain the personal opinions of BHL users or affiliated staff and does not necessarily represent the official Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) position on these matters.

We Challenge You to #DigIntoDyar

May 13, 2016, 7:30 am

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This post originally published on the Smithsonian Libraries blog Unbound. 

Important entomological work. The Bahá'í faith. Secret tunnels under Washington, DC. What do all of these elements have in common? Curiously, Smithsonian scientist Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr..

Dyar, Honorary Custodian of Lepidoptera at the United States National Museum (now, National Museum of Natural History) for over 30 years, was a prolific entomologist - studying sawflies, moths, butterflies and mosquitos and publishing his findings. He described hundreds of species and genera and brought new ones to light. “Dyar’s Law”, a standard rule used to measure premature insects, is named in his honor.

Harrison G. Dyar, Jr., third from right, with Entomology staff of the U.S. National Museum in 1905. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Yet, the work of this successful entomologist is often overshadowed by his fascinating personal life. Dyar was a bigamist and consequently dismissed from the USDA for conduct unbecoming of a federal employee. He practiced the Bahá'í faith, a movement that seeks to reconcile science with religion. And perhaps most newsworthy: he dug a series of mysterious tunnels beneath his home in Northwest DC. Tunnels that many believed were the work of spies until Dyar finally fessed up.

Starting today, you can be a part of the scientific legacy of this interesting figure in Smithsonian science. The Smithsonian Institution Archives has uploaded five volumes of Dyar’s “blue books” (notebooks in which he jotted down scientific observations) to the Smithsonian Transcription Center. Volunteers are encouraged to dive into the books and help us transcribe Dyar’s work for future study.

Cover of “Bluebook 401-414”, by H.G. Dyar. Digitized by Smithsonian Institution Archives. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46177763.

From now until May 20th, we’ll be encouraging everyone to #DigIntoDyar with a series of blog posts about Dyar’s work as well as a live Google Hangout on May 17th (2:30, EDT). Both will feature National Museum of Natural History research associate and Dyar biographer, Marc Epstein. Marc, who recently published Moths, Myths and Mosquitos: The Eccentric Life of Harrison G. Dyar, Jr., will help us understand Dyar’s work, his sordid personal life, and his legacy.

Along the way, we’ll be sharing other tidbits and images via social media. We hope you’ll tune in as we #DigIntoDyar and learn more about this fascinating part of Smithsonian history.

You can browse Dyar's field notebooks in BHL, digitized by Smithsonian Institution Archives as part of the Field Book Project. Below are the BHL links to the field notes that are part of this challenge, as well as the links to those projects in the Smithsonian Transcription Center to help you get started transcribing right away!

Happy Digging!

H. G. Dyar - Bluebook 401- 414, 1893-1894 | https://transcription.si.edu/project/8144
H. G. Dyar - Bluebook 415-435, 1893-1894 | https://transcription.si.edu/project/8145
H. G. Dyar - Bluebook 436-450, 1893-1894 | https://transcription.si.edu/project/8146
H. G. Dyar - Bluebook 451-473, 1894 | https://transcription.si.edu/project/8147
H. G. Dyar, Bluebook 474-491, 1894-1897 | https://transcription.si.edu/project/8148

Hen Fever and Heritage Breeds

May 19, 2016, 5:30 am

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Do you have hen fever?

Many in the 19th century did. From about 1845-1855, an obsession with owning and breeding the world's finest chickens swept across the United States. The epidemic started with Queen Victoria in England, whose royal menagerie of exotic species was enhanced, according to Wright's The Illustrated Book of Poultry, in 1843 with a selection of chickens known as Cochin China fowl. As the chickens bred, the queen sent eggs to her royal relatives, igniting a fire of breeding and selling exotic chickens that soon made its way to America.

Queen Victoria's Cochin China fowl. The Asiatics (1904). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37514328. Digitized by Cornell University Library.

The domesticated chicken is descended from the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), which was first domesticated nearly 10,000 years ago in Asia and dispersed around the world. Through natural and selective breeding, an astonishing variety of breeds now exist. The American Poultry Association began defining breeds in 1873. Definitions for the breeds were published in the Standard of Perfection. Many of these are now recognized as Heritage Breed chickens, which are defined by The Livestock Conservancy as follows:

"A Heritage Egg can only be produced by an American Poultry Association Standard breed. A Heritage Chicken is hatched from a heritage egg sired by an American Poultry Association Standard breed established prior to the mid-20th century, is slow growing, naturally mated with a long productive outdoor life."

Today, over three-dozen chicken breeds and 21% of the world's 8,000 livestock breeds are in danger of extinction. The loss of heritage breeds depletes the genetic diversity of the agricultural system, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to pests and diseases and less adaptable to changing environmental conditions. In an effort to raise awareness about endangered heritage breeds of livestock and poultry, The Livestock Conservancy organized the first Heritage Breeds Week campaign in May 2015. The success of that campaign prompted this year's International Heritage Breeds Week and Day, May 15-21, 2016, with a mission "To protect endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extinction." You can follow the campaign hashtag #HeritageBreedsWeek to learn more.

Two of the breeds predominantly responsible for the hen fever of the 19th century are heritage breeds: The Brahma chicken and the Cochin chicken.

Ideal Brahma. Illustrated by Franklane Lorraine Sewell. The Asiatics (1904). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37514323. Digitized by Cornell University Library.

Historic publications provide much valuable information about heritage breeds. For example, a history and description of the hen fever-related breeds is captured in The Asiatics; Brahmas, Cochins and Langshans, all varieties, their origin; peculiarities of shape and color; egg production; their market qualities. Breeding, mating and exhibiting, with detailed illustrated instructions on judging (1904). The work, digitized for BHL by Cornell University Library, is made up of many small articles or chapters, most of which were previously published in the Reliable Poultry Journal, also the publisher of this book. The title includes illustrations by notable poultry illustrator Franklane Lorraine Sewell, whose drawings are still used by the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection.

The work provides some interesting insight into the history of hen fever. For example, regarding Queen Victoria's Cochin China fowl which launched the craze,

"A drawing of those birds was given in the Illustrated London News of that date, from which and the description it is manifest that they had absolutely no points of the Cochin at all, save perhaps yellow legs and large size...But one thing about them there was; these fowls were not only big, but they probably really did come from Cochin China, and from them and that fact came undoubtedly the name, which will now belong, while poultry breeding lasts, to another fowl that has no right to it at all."

Cochin chicken. The Asiatics (1904). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37514330. Digitized by Cornell University Library.

The breed which is today known as the Cochin is instead descended from the Shanghais breed. According to The Asiatics,

"The first Poultry Book of Wingfield and Johnson (1853) wrote of them as Shanghais, and all American writers strove for the same name years after the attempt had been abandoned in England; but it was no use. The public had got to know the new, big fowls as Cochins, and would use no other word, and so the name stuck, in the teeth of the facts, and holds the field to this day."

The Brahma chicken, according to The Asiatics, "were undoubtedly originated in America by selection and careful breeding of what was known as the Gray Chittagongs."

Burnham's shipment of Brahmas to Queen Victoria. The Asiatics (1904). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37514327. Digitized by Cornell University Library.

George Burnham, who penned an account of hen fever in his The history of the hen fever. A humorous record, contributed to the Brahma's association with the fever by sending Queen Victoria nine of his finest stock in 1852, resulting in a significant increase in their popularity and price.

Postage detail for Burnham's shipment of Brahma chickens to Queen Victoria. A History of the Hen Fever (1855). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37262373. Digitized by Cornell University Library.

The Asiatics recounts an interesting origin for the Brahma breed in America:

"In regard to the history of these fowls- very little is known. A mechanic by the name of Chamberlain, in this city, first brought them here. Mr. Chamberlain was acquainted with a sailor, who informed him there were three pairs of large imported fowls in New York, and he dwelt so much upon the enormous size of these fowls that Mr. Chamberlain furnished him with money and directed him to go to New York and purchase a pair of them for him, which he did...The man in New York, whose name I have not got, gave no account of their origin, except that they had been brought there by some sailors in the Indian ships...One strain of these fowls, according to Mr. Wright was first called 'Burram pooters,' evidently with the intention of having it believed they were of a different race from the Chittagongs and Shanghai, the name being subsequently dropped and replaced by 'Brahma-Pootre,' and eventually simplified into Brahmas."

Historic publications are useful not only for documenting heritage breeds, but also for providing practical tips for raising poultry, especially as part of the backyard chicken farming movement that has been gaining prominence in the 21st century. Cornell's Albert R. Mann Library highlighted this phenomena as part of a post exploring the most-downloaded book contributed to BHL by Cornell  University Library: Poultry diseases, causes, symptoms and treatment, with notes on post-mortem examinations. As cited in that article:

"A 2010 USDA survey of four major U.S. metropolitan areas (Denver, Miami, Los Angeles and New York) found that 4.3% of all households living on 1+ acre of land reported owning chickens."

A 2014 study published in Poultry Science found that, of 1,487 surveys received from people in 47 U.S. states, 37.7% of respondents had kept backyard chickens for 2-5 years, while 32.5% had done so for less than 2 years. As the authors note, "These results indicate the relative recency of and growing interest in backyard chicken keeping."

The survey also found that respondents' motivations for keeping backyard chickens included (from most to least popular) food for home use, pest control, to provide manure for gardening, and pets. 62.5% of respondents relied on books and magazines for information on backyard chicken husbandry. "Almost all respondents also stated that their birds’ health and welfare are better than on commercial poultry farms and that the eggs or meat produced by their flocks are tastier, more nutritious, and safer to consume than purchased poultry products" (Elkhoraibi et al.).

Historic publications like those in BHL can contribute significantly to efforts to preserve important international breeds, providing the genetic diversity necessary to maintain a stable agricultural system. They can also support activities like small-scale poultry keeping, which can help address concerns related to food safety, animal welfare, and the environmental impact of factory farming.

We encourage you to explore The Asiatics and Poultry Diseases in BHL, digitized by Cornell University Library. You can browse all 1.5+ million pages contributed by Cornell to BHL here.

Learn more about backyard chicken farming in the online exhibit Backyard Revival from Cornell's Mann Library and find out more about the importance of heritage breeds as part of the International Heritage Breeds Week campaign.

Forget hen fever. Here's hoping for a hen revival!

References
Elkhoraibi, C., R. A. Blatchford, M. E. Pitesky and J. A. Mench. "Backyard chickens in the United States: A survey of flock owners." Poultry Science first published online September 5, 2014 doi:10.3382/ps.2014-04154

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for New Zealand Species, 29 May 2016!

May 23, 2016, 5:30 am

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Help improve Wikipedia articles about New Zealand species!

On Sunday, 29 May 2016, the Friends of Te Papa will be hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon focused on adding New Zealand plant and animal species to Wikipedia. The edit-a-thon will occur from 10:00-17:00 NZST at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand. You can sign up here to attend in person. You can find more information about the event here.

Participants from all over the world are also encouraged to join in remotely! Follow #NZspecies on Twitter to get updates from the event as it happens as well as to ask questions while you edit Wikipedia pages. Just be sure to add the hashtag #NZspecies to the edit summary for any content you create in Wikipedia prior to saving so that your contributions can be recorded. If you'd like to participate remotely, you can add your Wikipedia username to the “Attending remotely” section at the bottom of the Wikipedia Edit-a-thon page.

BHL has lots of great resources that you can use to do research on New Zealand species and enhance Wikipedia pages. These include:

• Images of New Zealand species. Here's a collection of over 650 of them in Flickr. View these instructions to see how to add images to Wikicommons. 
• BHL has a wealth of publications about New Zealand.
• Finally, need to find information about a specific species? Search for it in BHL using our taxonomic name finding tool and discover all of the publications in BHL that mention that species.

One of the edit-a-thon organizers, Siobhan Leachman (whom we've interviewed on our blog before in relation to her extensive citizen science activities) also recommends the following resources in BHL:

• Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora, Vols 1 and 2 by T. F. Cheeseman. Siobhan has created a spreadsheet providing taxonomic information for the species in these images, as well as identifying which ones are needed for Wikicommons and which species are absent from Wikipedia.
• Anything written by George Vernon Hudson but especially his classic An elementary manual of New Zealand entomology. As Siobhan says, "New Zealand endemic beetles and moths are crying out for more articles." 
• The Ross Expedition described many New Zealand species for the first time so the publication about the expedition,Zoology of the voyage of the H.M.S Erebus and Terror, is also very useful.  
• Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, which, Siobhan says, "is just full of material that can be cited in Wikipedia articles."

We're excited to see how this event helps improve access to information about New Zealand species and how BHL's free resources can contribute to that process and knowledge. We'd like to extend a huge shout-out to the organizers, Siobhan Leachman and Mike Dickison, for putting together this wonderful opportunity, and we hope you'll join the fun during the New Zealand species edit-a-thon!

Inspiring Discovery at the 2016 BioBlitz and Biodiversity Festival in Washington, D.C.

May 24, 2016, 5:30 am

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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. The event was co-hosted by the National Park Service and National Geographic.

Visitors at the BHL booth at the BioBlitz 2016 Biodiversity Festival on 20 May. Image Credit: Gil Taylor.

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.

BHL cards, coloring pages, and plant ID challenge at the BioBlitz 2016 Biodiversity Festival booth. Image Credits: Grace Costantino.

BHL staff at the booth included Martin R. Kalfatovic (BHL Program Director) and Grace Costantino (BHL Outreach and Communication Manager). Smithsonian Libraries staff at the booth included Sara Cardello (Education Specialist), Polly Lasker (Librarian), Gil Taylor (Supervisory Librarian), Bonnie White (Library Technician), Krista Aniel (Management Support Specialist), Barbara Ferry (Department Head, Natural and Physical Sciences Library), Hollis Gentry (Geology Specialist), and Michael O'Connor (Cataloger).

Booth Volunteers, from Left to Right: Polly Lasker, Sara Cardello, Gil Taylor, Krista Aniel, Bonnie White. Image Credits: Grace Costantino.

Booth Volunteers, from Left to Right: Barbara Ferry, Hollis Gentry, Martin Kalfatovic, Grace Costantino, Michael O'Connor. Image Credits: Grace Costantino.

Each booth was instructed to have a hands-on activity that participants could complete as part of the Festival's Biodiversity University. By completing five activities at the Festival, visitors received their Biodiversity University Bachelor's degree. Ten activities earned them a Master's and twenty activities a doctorate. BHL's activity was a plant ID challenge in which visitors used a book in BHL (A Guide to the Trees by Alice Lounsberry) to identify leaves from five trees native to the D.C. region. Over 200 students completed the activity, earning a sticker towards their Biodiversity University diploma!

Sara Cardello guiding visitors through the plant ID challenge at the BHL booth. Image Credit: Grace Costantino.

Additional BHL booth activities included coloring pages from BHL's Color Our Collectionscoloring book and a chance to explore BHL's online exhibitions (particularly Early Women in Science) and citizen science opportunities (including Flickr image tagging, field note transcription, Science Gossip, and online games).

Visitor coloring a BHL coloring page at the BHL booth. Image Credit: Grace Costantino.

The BioBlitz in D.C. was the cornerstone event of over 250 BioBlitzes happening around the country this year. So far this year, over 61,000 observations of over 6,800 species in 126 parks around the U.S. have been made. The largest percentage of observations were made of plants, followed by birds, insects, fungi, reptiles, mammals, mollusks, arachnids, and amphibians. Learn more about the observations made to date.

Grace Costantino guiding visitors through the plant ID challenge at the BHL booth. Image Credit: Barbara Ferry.

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in the BioBlitz and show visitors how BHL's free resources can be a valuable tool to help them identify and learn more about biodiversity. We'd also like to extend a special thanks to all of the Smithsonian Libraries staff that volunteered at the booth. The BioBlitz and Biodiversity Festival were an excellent opportunity for us to inspire discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge.

Gil Taylor (left) guiding visitors through the plant ID challenge at the BHL booth. Image Credit: Grace Costantino.

Malayan Flying Fox at the Organization for Bat Conservation #SavetheBats booth at the BioBlitz 2016 Biodiversity Festival. Image Credit: Grace Costantino.

Our neighbors at the BioBlitz 2016 Biodiversity Festival booth. Image Credit: Grace Costantino.

BHL Singapore representative and National Library Board staff visit Smithsonian Libraries

May 25, 2016, 5:30 am

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Wai Yin Pryke ( Director, National Library, National Library Board of Singapore) visited with BHL Program Director Martin R. Kalfatovic and Program Manager Carolyn Sheffield on 19 May 2016. Ms. Pryke is visiting various libraries and other institutions on an official visit to the United States.

It was also an honor to have Ms. Pryke accompanied by Elaine Ng. Ng is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Library Board (NLB) and initiated contacts that led to the creation of BHL Singapore.

Two other NLB staff, Grace Sim and Julia Chee, were also part of the visit to Smithsonian Libraries.

(pictured above, from the left: Julia Chee, Martin Kalfatovic, Carolyn Sheffield, Elaine Ng, Wai Yin Pryke, Grace Sim)

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The Roosevelt Wild Life Station

May 26, 2016, 6:55 am

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This is the first in a monthly series of posts highlighting contributions to the Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (EABL) project, which aims to enhance BHL's collections with content from natural history libraries, societies, and other institutions across the United States.

The Roosevelt Wild Life Station (RWLS) is a research center within the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, New York. Its mission is "to deliver the science and trained professionals to preserve our wildlife heritage and save imperiled species worldwide." In the first half of the 20th century, the RWLS produced two publications—the Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin and the Roosevelt Wild Life Annals—which are now available in BHL.

"The New York State College of Forestry, Syracuse, containing the offices and laboratories of the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station," from Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, v.1 no.1 (1921).

Founding of the RWLS

In December of 1916 Charles Christopher Adams, a zoologist at the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, approached Theodore Roosevelt to discuss the need for systematic study of big game and other mammals in the forests of North America. Dr. Adams believed that a lack of understanding of these animals was a problem not only for scientists, but also for industry—particularly forestry—and the economy in general. Roosevelt agreed that research in this area should be undertaken and asked Dr. Adams to devise a plan, which he outlined the following year. Despite Roosevelt's enthusiastic approval, the work was delayed—first by the onset of World War I, and then by Roosevelt's death on January 9, 1919.

Dr. Adams, undeterred by these events, saw a new opportunity to carry on the vision he had shared with Roosevelt, and convinced the state legislature of New York to establish the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station as a memorial to the former President. The Station was signed into law on May 10, 1919, as part of the New York State College of Forestry. The legislation stated that the RWLS would conduct “investigations, experiments, and research in relation to the habits, life histories, methods of propagation and management of fish, birds, game and food and fur-bearing animals and forest wild life.” Dr. Adams was the Station's first director.

"The field party of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station at camp on Mount Marcy, working in cooperation with other scientists," from Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, v.1 no.1 (1921).

Writing in Science in June, 1919, Dr. Adams proclaimed:

Never before in America, and for that matter, possibly, never before in the world, has there been a forest biological station devoted primarily or exclusively to the study of every phase of forest wild life. The establishment of such a station at the New York State College of Forestry, at Syracuse University, is thus an event of considerable general interest and importance, not only to those interested in the conservation of wild life, to foresters, and to zoologists in general, and particularly to field naturalists, but in addition to many others who are interested in the ecology of fish, birds, game, fur-bearing animals, and other kinds of forest wild life. This station, named in honor of the man … thus becomes a very appropriate memorial to Theodore Roosevelt.

An editorial in the August, 1919 issue of Forest and Stream speculated that "The work that such an experiment station may do is almost limitless and its possibilities are as yet quite beyond the range of our imagination."

The conservationist George Bird Grinnell was equally laudatory; in the foreword to the first issue of the Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin (1921), he wrote, "No one more than Theodore Roosevelt appreciated the value of the work done and to be done by the field-naturalist. No one more than he would welcome those services to science that may be accomplished by the Experiment Station that bears his name.”

"The fish laboratory of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station," from Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, v.1 no.1 (1921).

Publications of the RWLS

Under Dr. Adams's tenure as director, the RWLS began publishing the Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletinin 1921, which ran until 1950. The Bulletin contains general and "popular interest" pieces related to forest ecology. Many of these articles describe the geography and wildlife of the forests immediately surrounding the RWLS, as well as the Adirondacks and other regions of upstate New York. Several others detail field research conducted at Camp Roosevelt, Yellowstone National Park, where Professor Alvin Whitney, of the New York State College of Forestry, ran a boys' summer camp in the early 1920s.

Color plates from Roosevelt Wild Life Annals, v.1 no.3-4 (1926)

Typically, each issue of the Bulletin is organized around a single topic or group of related topics: parasites in freshwater fishes, a county-level wildlife and forest survey, and the management of ruffed grouse, among others. These articles, which treated wildlife as natural resources, would surely have interested naturalists, foresters, and hunters alike. In fact, within a few years of the RWLS's founding, people from as far away as India began to request research on subjects as esoteric as muskrat farming. 

"Field party of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station in Yellowstone Park, summer of 1921," in Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, v.1 no.1 (1921).

In 1926, the RWLS began a second publication, the Roosevelt Wild Life Annals, which ran for 10 years. Whereas the Bulletin was intended for a broad audience, the Annals contain technical papers that would have been of interest to professional naturalists, particularly zoologists and botanists. Like the Bulletin, each issue is typically devoted to a single topic: the red squirrel, trout streams in Yellowstone National Park, the bank swallow, and others. 

The RWLS Today

From Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, v.1 no.1 (1921)

Following the publication of the last Bulletin in 1950, the RWLS entered a period of inactivity that lasted until 1999, when it was reactivated through a combination of private and state funding. Governor George Pataki and Theodore Roosevelt IV presided over the rededication. The RWLS began to support student internships at ESF's Adirondack Ecological Center, and in 2014 the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation provided $3.4 million in funding for wildlife research and management. 

Today, the RWLS focuses on the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada in the context of truly global issues: habitat loss and climate change. In addition to providing hands-on experience to students of wildlife science, its priorities are "protection of imperiled keystone and strongly valued species vulnerable to the impacts of rapidly changing landscapes and climate; and habitat management issues, such as maintaining effective habitat in private-land mosaics, protecting and expanding core habitat areas, and securing habitat connectivity.” In these efforts, the RWLS carries on the vision shared by Dr. Adams and Theodore Roosevelt a hundred years ago. 

References

Adams, C. C. (1919). The Roosevelt Wild-Life Forest Experiment Station. Science, n.s. 49(1275), 533-534.

Frair, J., & Gibbs, J. P. (2011, Spring). The Roosevelt Wild Life Station: Revitalizing a forgotten conservation legacy. Fair Chase, 30-34.

National Park Service. Roosevelt Lodge, 1920. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/historyculture/rooseveltlodge.htm

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. History of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.esf.edu/rwls/timeline.pdf

BHL at 10 Notable Books Collection

June 1, 2016, 8:00 am

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2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. We kicked off our year-long celebrations with our #BHLat10 campaign in April, highlighting our history, growth, and milestones. As part of that campaign, we also highlighted the Top 10 Viewed and Top 10 Downloaded books in BHL.

We're continuing the celebrations with the launch of our BHL at 10 Notable Books Collection. For this collection, our Members, Affiliates, and Partners each nominated a favorite or noteworthy title that they have contributed to BHL. These include rare, monumental, and groundbreaking publications that have helped shape the field of natural history and biodiversity research for centuries.

And there are indeed many remarkable titles in the collection. We invite you to dive into the collection by browsing through the books in the slideshow below. Click on the link on each image to explore the entire book, or browse the whole collection here.

We'll be highlighting all of the books in this collection via social media throughout the rest of 2016. Follow #BHLat10 all year to learn more about the noteworthy contributions from our Members, Affiliates, and Partners, as well as to join our celebration of BHL's 10th anniversary.

Happy Birthday, BHL!

Smorball and Beanstalk Temporarily Unavailable

June 2, 2016, 5:30 am

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BHL's two online games, Smorball and Beanstalk, are temporarily unavailable while we transfer the domains to a new registrar. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. We will provide notification via this blog, Twitter, and Facebook once access to the games is restored.

You can learn more about our games, and how they help improve the discoverability of BHL books, in this past blog post. To date, over 5,000 people have played the games and over 140,000 words have been typed. Thank you so much to all of our players and for your contributions to help improve access to biodiversity literature!

Diving into Marine Biodiversity & Coastal Ecosystem Research

June 9, 2016, 5:30 am

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On the eastern coast of Florida, about 120 miles north of Miami, there's a very special research center. It serves as a field station specializing in marine biodiversity and Florida ecosystems, especially that of the Indian River Lagoon - one of the most biologically-diverse estuaries in North America. The center serves as a destination for scientists around the world who are interested in studying the extraordinary biodiversity in the area as well as ocean and coastal processes at large.

Aerial view of the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit and the Smithsonian marine Station. http://www.sms.si.edu/.

This center is the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, and its mission is to "support and conduct...scholarly research in the marine sciences, including collection, documentation and preservation of south Florida's marine biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as education, training, and public service."

The Smithsonian has had a presence in Fort Pierce since 1969. While the station and facilities have grown and evolved tremendously over the past four decades, a $10 million donation from Suzanne and Michael Tennenbaum in 2012 launched a project that further expands the Station's contributions to worldwide coastal marine biodiversity and ecosystem research.

Entitled the Tennenbaum Marine Observation Network (TMON), the project establishes"the first worldwide network of coastal ecological field sites" and "will provide an unprecedented understanding of how marine biodiversity is affected by local human activities and global change, such as ocean warming, acidification and rising sea levels." The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce was named one of five field sites in the project, which aims to incorporate an additional ten new sites within the next decade.

Dean Janiak, Biologist, TMON/MarineGEO, Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft Pierce.

Dean Janiak has served as a biologist on TMON and the related Marine Global Earth Observatory (MarineGEO) program at the Fort Pierce Marine Station for the past year and a half. Before joining the station in Florida, he served as the Head Technician in the Benthic Ecology lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Maryland. With a B.Sc. in Biology from Humboldt State University and an M.Sc. in Marine Sciences from the University of Connecticut, Janiak has a passion for marine ecology, invasion biology, and life histories - a passion which attracted him to the position in Fort Pierce.

"I would consider myself a general marine ecologist with a particular interest in how marine invertebrate communities are both formed and maintained in space and time," explains Janiak. "When we travel out into the field and see communities of animals living in close proximity to each other, we could assume that they just randomly arrived there and have made a living. However, most species actually have gone through a harrowing adventure to get to where they are. Besides how they got there, the animals themselves are unbelievably diverse. I would argue that within ½ meter², in many parts of the ocean you could find more diversity than any zoo or aquarium could ever show you. Because of this, much of my interests are in not only why communities look the way they do but also what species or groups of species make up these communities. In particular, I do a lot of research in an unusual type of habitat - artificial habitats (e.g. docks, marinas, seawalls, etc.) - which are actually pretty common. While they tend to have a positive effect for those installing them (storm protection, recreational boating), we have little knowledge on how they function in terms of the animals on them and how they contribute to the overall system. For example, a large percentage of non-native species are found in these types of habitats, and one of the topics I am interested in is the consequences of these species spreading into more pristine, native habitat like seagrasses or reefs."

Such research is dependent upon information contained within published literature.

"In my opinion, there is no way to do science of any kind without having a solid background on what has been done in the past," affirms Janiak. "Unlike past history where we must learn from our mistakes in order to be successful, the sciences allow us to learn from our accomplishments. Each species is unique in its evolutionary journey and should be treated as such. Identifying a species and learning about how that species makes its living requires an extensive use of the library system."

Traditionally, access to historic literature can be difficult to obtain, even for researchers working at institutions with extensive library collections such as those that Janiak has access to through the Smithsonian Libraries. While Janiak is quick to point out that he benefits enormously from the e-journal subscriptions and robust ILL services offered by the Smithsonian, being stationed in Florida, away from the library base of his home institution, means that his opportunity to access the Library's physical collections are limited. Even the speediest ILL services inevitably introduce delays into the research process. The Biodiversity Heritage Library (of which Smithsonian Libraries is a founding Member), however, is revolutionizing scientific research, providing researchers across the globe with free and immediate access to the information and publications they require to study life on Earth.

"BHL is a great resource for trying to find things that have typically been forgotten by most," applauds Janiak. "[It provides access to] literature that would be otherwise impossible to find or know that it even existed.  From a research perspective, I use BHL as a starting to point to find taxonomic information on a particular species or group that I am working on. As we move closer and closer to new age molecular approaches to identifying species, we are losing people who can simply look at an animal and tell you what it is, why it is that, and the interesting way that it makes a living. I think that much of this knowledge would be lost if BHL was not trying to keep this information available."

Rockworm (Marphysa sanguinea). An example of one of the species found in the Indian River Lagoon. Image Credit: Dean Janiak.

In particular, BHL has proven to be a useful resource for the TMON project, providing information that supports research on global change.

"TMON has at its core to understand biodiversity and how it changes through time," explains Janiak. "I think that we are all aware that the climate is changing, and it is natural for change to occur. There are built-in positive and negative feedback loops that allow the climate to do so. I think the problem is that this change is happening at a rapid rate and we, in a single generation, can see this happening. It is therefore 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."

Thanks to the free online access to biodiversity literature provided by BHL, combined with the extensive resources offered by the Smithsonian Libraries, Janiak has the information he needs to follow his research passions.

"I have always been career-minded and have also always wanted to be a part of something special with the caveat that it must come with a constant challenge. I think that the Smithsonian has not only offered me that but has also given me the opportunity to build a career with all the resources that I would need plus that relentless challenge that keeps me engaged and excited each day. It’s essentially like the popular kid at school asking you to play in their sandbox; you never want to leave."

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This post may contain the personal opinions of BHL users or affiliated staff and does not necessarily represent the official Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) position on these matters.

Expanding Access and MiBio team members present at the annual Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Meeting

June 16, 2016, 7:00 am

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The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries hosted its 48^th Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio May 24-28^th, 2016.  With perfect weather and a packed schedule, members were kept busy experiencing a number of different museums, attending meetings and hosting member presentations and speakers.  Tours of the Cleveland Botanical Garden, West Side Market, Great Lakes Science Center, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Dittrick Museum of Medical History, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Herb Society of America, and the Holden Arboretum allowed attendees to gain a well-rounded sense of Cleveland’s landscape.



Photo credit: Jennifer McDowell

The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) is made up of organizations, institutions and individuals from around the world.  It was created to initiate and facilitate communication between those focused on libraries and botanical and horticultural literature and dates back to November 13, 1969 when the first conference convened in Boston, Massachusetts.  It was more formally founded the following year at the Second Conference.  Members of CBHL include the Denver Botanical Gardens Helen Fowler Library, Michigan State University Libraries, the Morton Arboretum and many others.  Some BHL affiliates and partners are also a part of CBHL including the Missouri Botanical Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, and the California Academy of Sciences Library.

One of the member presentations was titled “Towards better accessibility to biodiversity knowledge: The Biodiversity Heritage Library as a platform for content sharing and discovery” and included two different presentations on two BHL projects.  The first was the Expanding Access to Biodiversity (EABL) team members: Mariah Lewis and Patrick Randall.  This presentation, which is now available online, covered topics such as timeline, funding, scope, copyright, digitization, metadata, curation, and the benefits of participation. 

Following this was William Ulate who presented on Mining Biodiversity (MiBio).  While Expanding Access aims to bring more content into BHL, Mining Biodiversity is dedicated to transforming BHL into a next-generation social digital library resource that not only gives access to users, but also facilitates study and discussion of legacy scientific documents.  This international collaboration is a project rooted in helping users locate information within BHL easily and efficiently while fostering collaboration.  The presentation can be viewed here.  Members were also able to access and test the search interfaceand leave valuable feedback for the project. 

William Ulate, Patrick Randall, and Mariah Lewis present at CBHL Photo Credit: Bill Musser

The two presentations were met with an extremely positive response from attendees and facilitated wonderful conversations about the Biodiversity Heritage Library, Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature, and Mining Biodiversity.  Expanding Access was able to talk with a number of future contributors about the project and are looking forward to working with them to add their content into BHL!

Special thanks to our spectacular hosts: The Cleveland Botanical Garden and The Holden Arboretum and CBHL for allowing us to present!

It’s the Canopy Walk at the Holden Arboretum!  Photo credit: Mariah Lewis

Want more information on the Expanding Access project?  Interested in being one of our contributors?  Please email Patrick Randall at patrickrandall@fas.harvard.edufor more information!  An Expanding Access team member will be present at ALA’s Annual Conference.  If you would like to talk about the project in-person in Orlando next week please email Mariah Lewis at mlewis@nybg.org.