2015 BHL Staff Meeting | Washington, DC | 12-13 November

Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Biodiversity Heritage LibraryMartin R. Kalfatovic | BHL Program Director

The cultivation of natural science cannot be efficiently carried on without reference to an extensive library

Charles Darwin, et al (1847)

Inspiring discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge

BHL Wayback Machine

2004 Chicago

2005 London

2006 Takoma Park

2006 Washington

2007 Washington

2012 Cambridge | Staff Meeting

2015Takoma Park

The Biodiversity Heritage Library improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity

Mission

Goals

Build and maintain the BHL as the largest reliable, reputable, and responsive repository of biodiversity literature and archival materials

Build and maintain the BHL as the largest reliable, reputable, and responsive repository of biodiversity literature and archival materials

Develop services and tools which facilitate discovery and improve research efficiency of BHL content

Build and maintain the BHL as the largest reliable, reputable, and responsive repository of biodiversity literature and archival materials

Develop services and tools which facilitate discovery and improve research efficiency of BHL content

Increase global awareness about the BHL and biodiversity issues through outreach, learning and education, branding, and collaboration with existing and new user communities

Build and maintain the BHL as the largest reliable, reputable, and responsive repository of biodiversity literature and archival materials

Develop services and tools which facilitate discovery and improve research efficiency of BHL content

Increase global awareness about the BHL and biodiversity issues through outreach, learning and education, branding, and collaboration with existing and new user communities

Grow BHL consortia membership and partnerships while fostering cross-institutional collaboration that continues to serve as a model for digital library development

Build and maintain the BHL as the largest reliable, reputable, and responsive repository of biodiversity literature and archival materials

Develop services and tools which facilitate discovery and improve research efficiency of BHL content

Increases our success through increased financial strength, effective administrative support, and organizational excellence

Increase global awareness about the BHL and biodiversity issues through outreach, learning and education, branding, and collaboration with existing and new user communities

Grow BHL consortia membership and partnerships while fostering cross-institutional collaboration that continues to serve as a model for digital library development

Build and maintain the BHL as the largest reliable, reputable, and responsive repository of biodiversity literature and archival materials

Develop services and tools which facilitate discovery and improve research efficiency of BHL content

Increase global awareness about the BHL and biodiversity issues through outreach, learning and education, branding, and collaboration with existing and new user communities

Grow BHL consortia membership and partnerships while fostering cross-institutional collaboration that continues to serve as a model for digital library development

Increases our success through increased financial strength, effective administrative support, and organizational excellence

In any well-appointed Natural History Library there should be found every book and every edition of every book dealing in the remotest way with the subjects concerned.

Charles Davies Sherborn Epilogue to Index Animalium,

March 1922

Yet another physical difficulty is the task of assembling the library and indexes which will enable the student to work under proper conditions…. the beginner must now be prepared to spend liberally, or else must establish himself in an institution where a large library exists; if he work by himself with only a few books, he will have to confine himself to a very narrow specialty indeed.

'The Limitations of Taxonomy' by J.M. Aldrich, Science, April 22, 1927, vol. LXV, no. 1686, p.381

Inspiring discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge

PEOPLESecretariat

Program Director Martin R. Kalfatovic

Program Manager Carolyn Sheffield

Collections Coordinator Bianca Crowley

Outreach & Communications Grace Costantino

3.5 FTE

PEOPLETechnical Team

Technical Director William Ulate

Programmer Mike Lichtenberg

Data Analyst Trish Rose-Sandler

3 FTE

2015 Budget: Expenses: $688.5k

Secretariat Salary $344,577Travel $39,000Technical Salary* $244,425Digitization $31,000Other $29,500Meetings $21,000TOTAL $688,502

* Data analyst not counted in these figures

2015 Budget: Income: $703.3k

Smithsonian $392,577MBG Grants $114,900Donations $8,052Dues $187,837TOTAL $703,366

BHL has now grown to 16 MembersAmerican Museum of Natural History Cornell UniversityThe Field Museum of Natural HistoryHarvard University Botany LibrariesMayr Library of the Museum of Comp. Zoology

(Harvard University)Library of CongressMarine Biological Laboratory &

Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionMissouri Botanical Garden LibraryBHL Singapore (National Library Board)BHL Mexico (CONABIO)Natural History Museum, London The New York Botanical GardenRoyal Botanic Garden, KewSmithsonian LibrariesUnited States Geological Survey LibrariesUniversity of Illinois

Academy of Natural Sciences Natural History Museum, LA CountyChicago Botanic GardenCalifornia Academy of SciencesNational Agriculture LibraryWashington UniversityBHL Africa

BHL has now grown to 7 Affiliates

And now has global partners throughout the world

Europe, China, Brasil, Australia, Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Singapore, & Mexico

Questions?@UDCMRK