Biodiversity Heritage Library Tom Garnett Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Taxonomic Literature Over 250 years of systematic description of life Systema naturae (10 th ed. 1758) by Carl von Linné

Over 250 years of systematic description of life

Systema naturae (10 th ed. 1758) by Carl von Linné

Taxonomic Literature The cited half-life of publications in taxonomy is longer than in any other scientific discipline * * * The decay rate is longer than in any scientific discipline - Macro-economic case for open access, Tom Moritz

Taxonomic Impediment Specimen collections Databases Publications Observations ‘ Gray’ literature Index cards Field notebooks

Specimen collections

Databases

Publications

Observations

‘ Gray’ literature

Index cards

Field notebooks

Taxonomic Literature that there is access to information held in national/regional/global collections that electronic data is efficiently captured and provided in useable form that existing information held in literature and by current experts is made available electronically that stability of scientific names of organisms, used to access this information, is promoted - Darwin Declaration, 1998 The essential requirements for accessing and utilising this global information are:

that there is access to information held in national/regional/global collections

that electronic data is efficiently captured and provided in useable form

that existing information held in literature and by current experts is made available electronically

that stability of scientific names of organisms, used to access this information, is promoted

- Darwin Declaration, 1998

Taxonomic Impediment Biologia Centrali-Americana. Edited by Frederick Ducane Godman and Osbert Salvin. London : Pub. for the editors by R. H. Porter, 1879-1915

Digital Divide? Vishwas Chavan travels a lot. An informatician based at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, India, he collects data on what types of animal live where in India to enter into a biodiversity database … Much of the information Chavan seeks is in old, out-of-print tomes … To find them, Chavan has spent years trailing around libraries. He dreams of the day when books such as these are scanned and made available as digital files on the Internet. “ Science in the Web Age: The Real Death of Print” by Andreas von Bubnoff Nature 438, 550-552 1 December 2005

Biodiversity Heritage Library 2003, Telluride. Encyclopedia of Life meeting February 2005. London. Library and Laboratory: the Marriage of Research, Data and Taxonomic Literature May 2005. Washington. Ground work for the Biodiversity Heritage Library June 2006. Washington. Organizational and Technical meeting August 2006. New York Botanical Garden. BHL Director’s Meeting. October 2006. St. Louis/San Francisco. Technical meetings February 2007. Museum of Comparative Zoology. Organizational meeting

2003, Telluride. Encyclopedia of Life meeting

February 2005. London. Library and Laboratory: the Marriage of Research, Data and Taxonomic Literature

May 2005. Washington. Ground work for the Biodiversity Heritage Library

June 2006. Washington. Organizational and Technical meeting

August 2006. New York Botanical Garden. BHL Director’s Meeting.

October 2006. St. Louis/San Francisco. Technical meetings

February 2007. Museum of Comparative Zoology. Organizational meeting

Biodiversity Heritage Library American Museum of Natural History (New York) Field Museum (Chicago) Natural History Museum (London) Smithsonian Institution (Washington) Missouri Botanical Garden New York Botanical Garden Royal Botanic Garden, Kew Botany Libraries, Harvard University Ernst Meyer Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Marine Biological Laboratory / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

American Museum of Natural History (New York)

Field Museum (Chicago)

Natural History Museum (London)

Smithsonian Institution (Washington)

Missouri Botanical Garden

New York Botanical Garden

Royal Botanic Garden, Kew

Botany Libraries, Harvard University

Ernst Meyer Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Marine Biological Laboratory / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Biodiversity Heritage Library

Core literature pre-1923: 400,000 (80 million pages) All pre-1923: 600-750,000 (120-150 million pages) All literature: 1.4-1.6 million (280-320 million pages) Biodiversity Heritage Library

Core literature pre-1923: 400,000 (80 million pages)

All pre-1923: 600-750,000 (120-150 million pages)

All literature: 1.4-1.6 million (280-320 million pages)

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9. Page View

Internet Archive Scribe Scanner Single Scribe Machine Human operated 200 volumes per shift per week ~ 70,000 pages from a single machine per week

Single Scribe Machine

Human operated

200 volumes per shift per week

~ 70,000 pages from a single machine per week

Internet Archive Scribe Scanner

Internet Archive Scribe Scanner

Internet Archive Scribe Scanner

Biodiversity Heritage Library

Biodiversity Heritage Library