The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a global consortium that provides open access to over 58,000 titles and 112,000 volumes of biodiversity literature from over 250 participating institutions. The BHL uses a collaborative approach where materials are scanned locally and then coordinated through a centralized system. It has over 113,000 monthly visits. The BHL also has a thorough post-digitization curation process where users can submit errors or requests, which are then tracked and addressed by participating librarians. This curation process helps improve the quality and utility of the digital collections over time.

1. Biodiversity Heritage Library:
A Collaborative Approach to Curating the
World’s Legacy Biodiversity Literature
By: Grace Costantino, Program Manager
Bianca Crowley, Collections Coordinator
h"p://connect.ala.org/node/201879

2.  58,000+ Titles
 112,000+ Volumes
 40 Million+ Pages
 250+ Permissions
 113,000+ Monthly
Visits
 62,000+ Monthly
Visitors
http://biodiversitylibrary.org

3. Global BHL Partners

4. Core BHL Members

5. Scanning locally, Coordinating globally

6. Issue Tracking
Software
Vols.
6,
8,
10
Vols.
1-­‐5
Vols.
7,
9,
11-­‐21
Scanning locally, Coordinating globally
Administrative
Dashboard

7. Post-digitization Curation Workflow
Users
may
find/have:
• Metadata
errors
(for
page
descripBons,
bibliographic
data)
• Quality
Assurance
errors
(blurred
or
missing
pages)
• Missing
volumes
of
a
series
• Technical
bugs
• Reference
quesBons

8. Post-digitization Curation Workflow
Error
in
BHL
User
describes
error
in
BHL
webform
Error
submi"ed
to
issue
tracking
system
Moderators
assign
issue
to
appropriate
librarian(s)
Follow
up
via
AdministraBve
Dashboard
Is
it
a
scanning
request?
Follow
up
via
Scanning
Workflow
ConsorBum
librarians
document
progress
in
issue
tracking
system
Follow
up
with
users
when
possible
No
Yes

9. Curation: a Patient Practice
USERS
CLICK
ON
REPORT
ERROR
BUTTON
TO
SEND
FEEDBACK

10. BHL
FEEDBACK
WEBFORM
FEEDS
ERRORS
&
SCANNING
REQUESTS
DIRECTLY
INTO
ISSUE
TRACKING
SYSTEM

11. OVERVIEW
OF
ISSUE
TRACKING
SYSTEM

12. FEEDBACK
FROM
USER
AS
AN
INDIVIDUAL
ISSUE
IN
THE
SYSTEM

13. GREAT
EXAMPLE
OF
A
LONG
AND
COMPLEX
ISSUE
PART
1

14. GREAT
EXAMPLE
OF
A
LONG
AND
COMPLEX
ISSUE
PART
2

15. BHL
ADMINISTRATIVE
DASHBOARD
ALLOWS
ACCESS
TO
BACKEND
DATABASE

16. TITLE
INFORMATION
EDITING
MODULE

17. ITEM
OR
VOLUME
INFORMATION
EDITING
MODULE

18. PAGINATION
INFORMATION
EDITING
MODULE

19. EXAMPLE
OF
BOOK
WITH
COMPLETE
PAGINATION
INFORMATION

20. FROM
OUR
PAGINATION
EDITING
MODULE
WE
CAN
SEND
IMAGES
DIRECTLY
TO
OUR
FLICKR
PHOTOSTREAM

21. EXAMPLE
IMAGE
IN
OUR
FLICKR
PHOTOSTREAM

22. EXAMPLE
OF
AN
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
LIFE
SPECIES
PAGE

23. Curation: a Patient Practice that Pays Off!

24. • Face
it,
your
digital
library
is
just
another
website
• CuraBon
is
about
leverage
• Get
your
content
out
there
• Trust
your
users
• Use
the
right
tools
for
the
job
• It
takes
a
village
Lessons Learned

25. http://biodiversitylibrary.org
Grace Costantino, costantinog@si.edu
Bianca Crowley, crowleyb@si.edu