Digitizing the legacy literature of biodiversity An introduction to the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) Neil Thomson Natural History Museum, London

BHL origins and objectives Encyclopedia of Life meeting at Telluride, 2003 Cost and storage possibilities Natural history literature is an ideal digitization candidate Aim: Available at point of use

Encyclopedia of Life meeting at Telluride, 2003

Cost and storage possibilities

Natural history literature is an ideal digitization candidate

Aim: Available at point of use

Scope and IPR Public domain (pre-1923 in USA) Legacy literature as complement to current material Negotiation with societies and Not-For-Profits Creative Commons licensing – some rights reserved

Public domain (pre-1923 in USA)

Legacy literature as complement to current material

Negotiation with societies and Not-For-Profits

Creative Commons licensing – some rights reserved

Partners 10 Library partners American Museum of Natural History Field Museum Harvard University Botany Library Missouri Botanical Garden Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Natural History Museum, London New York Botanical Garden Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

10 Library partners

American Museum of Natural History

Field Museum

Harvard University Botany Library

Missouri Botanical Garden

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Natural History Museum, London

New York Botanical Garden

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Associates OCLC http://www.oclc.org/ Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/index.php Others in negotiation

OCLC

http://www.oclc.org/

Internet Archive

http://www.archive.org/index.php

Others in negotiation

Structure & funding BHL is a f ounder member of the Open Content Alliance www.opencontentalliance.org/ Charitable status English-language project Register of intent Funding

BHL is a f ounder member of the Open Content Alliance

www.opencontentalliance.org/

Charitable status

English-language project

Register of intent

Funding

Digitization phases Bibliographic record pooling Internet Archive Pod of 10 cameras Boutique scanning of rare, fragile or oversize material Metadata enhancement Service building

Bibliographic record pooling

Internet Archive Pod of 10 cameras

Boutique scanning of rare, fragile or oversize material

Metadata enhancement

Service building

Digitization process Pooled bibliographic records used for selection, matching and status Page images and OCR Addition of identifiers Quality check Return or offsite storage

Pooled bibliographic records used for selection, matching and status

Page images and OCR

Addition of identifiers

Quality check

Return or offsite storage

Metadata repository Bibliographic record pool Monographs Serial-titles Article-level metadata OCLC analysis

Bibliographic record pool

Monographs

Serial-titles

Article-level metadata

OCLC analysis

Statistics - 1 Initial analysis showed: We have 1.3 million catalogue records 73% are monographs (remainder are serials at title-level) 63% is English language material. The next most popular language (9%) is German. About 30% of material was published before 1923.

Initial analysis showed:

We have 1.3 million catalogue records

73% are monographs (remainder are serials at title-level)

63% is English language material. The next most popular language (9%) is German.

About 30% of material was published before 1923.

Statistics - 2 Overlap analysis Of the 981,000 monograph records from all institutions 378,000 matching pairs were found 616,000 had no matches at all and were unique to one institution. After de-duplication of the matching pairs, the final file contains 757,000 records .

Overlap analysis

Of the 981,000 monograph records from all institutions 378,000 matching pairs were found

616,000 had no matches at all and were unique to one institution.

After de-duplication of the matching pairs, the final file contains 757,000 records .

Metadata development Data standards METS DOIs LSIDs Indexes and taxonomic intelligence

Data standards

METS

DOIs

LSIDs

Indexes and taxonomic intelligence

The future What do scientists want from a digital library? What will the BHL look like?

What do scientists want from a digital library?

What will the BHL look like?

http:// bhl . si . edu /index. cfm