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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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BHL Welcomes Museum für Naturkunde Berlin as a New Member!
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN) has been a part of the BHL global family for nearly a decade through BHL Europe. Launched in 2009 and coordinated by MfN, the three-year BHL Europe project aimed to improve the interoperability of European biodiversity digital libraries and bring together the digitization activities of institutions across the EU. As a BHL Member, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin will provide technical, digitization, and data management expertise and contribute rare and unique materials from its significant collections.
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BHL Welcomes the Lloyd Library & Museum as a New Affiliate!
We are
pleased to
welcome the Lloyd Library & Museum
as our newest Affiliate. The Lloyd Library's affiliation builds upon a successful partnership established during the BHL Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature project, where, in collaboration with Digital Services at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH), the Library uploaded 26 significant titles to BHL's collection.
As an Affiliate, the Lloyd will contribute additional titles identified from its collection that are not yet in BHL, providing free access to valued resources for both local and global communities.
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For the Love of Cider: Celebrating Pomology, Apples, and Cider-Making with Cornell University Library
Cider-making is currently undergoing a revival in the United States, and historic literature provides an important record of many apple varieties used over the centuries in cider production.
This summer, BHL joined Cornell University Library in celebration of cider. To complement a new exhibit on cider-making,
Apples to Cider: An Old Industry Takes Fresh Root, which is on display in Cornell's Mann Library lobby through October 2018, the Library created a new collection in BHL, "
Pomology: Apples and Cider", featuring dozens of titles on a variety of cider and apple-related topics. The celebrations extended to social media with a #CornellCider campaign and a lecture by Dr. Gregory Peck on the history of cider production as part of the University's annual Cornell Reunion.
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Thousands of Field Notes Now Available in BHL Thanks to the Field Notes Project!
In February 2016, the Biodiversity Heritage Library set out to digitize over 450,000 pages of field notes. A collaborative project with eleven partners and funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Digitizing Hidden Special Collections initiative, the Field Notes Project is BHL's largest undertaking of digitizing field notes to date.
Project work wrapped up at the end of May 2018.
The results? Over 517,000 pages of field notes have been digitized!
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Seeds in the Stacks: A Closer Look at Two Seedsmen from the Golden Age
The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library has one of the world's largest collections of nursery and seed trade catalogs. They have digitized
over 40,000 for BHL, including many from two seedsmen who epitomized the golden age of mail order catalogs: James Vick and Peter Henderson.
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Celebrating Cider: The Herefordshire Pomona
The Herefordshire Pomona, issued by subscription in 7 parts between 1876-1885, documented the presence of over 400 apple and pear varieties in 19th century England. Compiled and edited by the eminent 19th century horticulturalist Robert Hogg and the physician Henry Graves Bull, it features illustrations by Alice Blanche Ellis and Edith Elizabeth Bull (thought to be Dr. Bull's daughter). It was recently contributed to BHL by Cornell University Library as part of the Cornell Cider celebrations.
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Exploring One of the Rarest - and Largest - Orchid Books
At about 30" x 22" and weighing in at over 38 lbs, James Bateman's
The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala ([1837]-1843) is the "largest botanical book ever produced with lithographic plates". Presenting many new-to-science species of orchids, the work is renowned for its lithographic plates, executed by Maxim Gauci based on drawings largely by Sarah Anne Drake and Augusta Withers and representing the first published illustrations for an estimated 90% of the 40 species included.
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Supporting Worldwide Research
Cider-making is undergoing a revival, but the true identities of many apple varieties used in the industry today are a mystery. How is BHL helping Cornell University professor
Dr. Gregory Peck uncover the truth behind enigmatic apple cultivars?
The neon flying squid (
O. bartramii) has long been considered a monotypic, cosmopolitan species. Recent research by
Dr. Fernando Á. Fernández-Álvarez and colleagues has shown that this "monotypic" species may not be so "mono" after all. Where does BHL come in?
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Presentations, Events, and Workshops
Explore some of the BHL presentations, events, and workshops that staff have given and hosted over the past few months.
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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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140,000+ Titles | 230,000+ Volumes | 54+ Million Pages
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