BHL Africa Workshop: An Overview of the BHL. Martin R. Kalfatovic. Nairobi National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya. 22 September 2015

1. BHL Africa Workshop
An Overview of the BHL
Martin R. Kalfatovic
24 September, 2015
National Museum of Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya

2. Good Morning!

3. Extensive…
The cultivation of
natural science
cannot be
efficiently carried
on without
reference to an
extensive library
Charles Darwin, et al (1847)

4. Created in 2006…
… with 10 US and UK institutions

5. A Vast Library of Life

6. A Global Project that
Encompasses
Technology Libraries Science

7. Committed to Open Access
http://bouchoutdeclaration.org/
Our natural world is a source of food, water,
resources, protection and enjoyment that our
society needs. The richness and complexity of
nature, and the speed of new discoveries made
possible by genomic and digital technologies,
challenge us to find new ways to benefit from and
be better custodians of the natural world. Digital
information management systems can bring
together the wealth of information now dispersed
in a myriad of different documents, institutions, and
locations. With such systems, we can harness the
benefits of rapid discovery and open up our legacy
of over 260 years of biological observations.
Bouchout
Declaration
Signatory

8. Global Growth
BHL has now grown to 23 members and affiliates

9. 23 Members and Affiliates
16 Members
American Museum of Natural History
Cornell University
The Field Museum of Natural History
Harvard University Botany Libraries
Mayr Library of the Museum of Comp. Zoology (Harvard University)
Library of Congress
Marine Biological Laboratory & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Missouri Botanical Garden Library
BHL Singapore (National Library Board)
BHL Mexico (CONABIO)
Natural History Museum, London
The New York Botanical Garden
Royal Botanic Garden, Kew
Smithsonian Libraries
United States Geological Survey Libraries
University of Illinois

10. 23 Members and Affiliates
7 Affiliates
Academy of Natural Sciences
Natural History Museum, LA County
Chicago Botanic Garden
California Academy of Sciences
National Agriculture Library
Washington University
BHL Africa (SANBI & National Museums of Kenya)

11. Global Growth
And now has global partners throughout the world
Europe, China, Brasil, Australia, Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa,
Singapore, & Mexico

12. Global Growth

14. Secretariat & Technical
StaffProgram Director
Program Manager
Collections Coordinator
Communication & Outreach
Manager
Technical Director
Programmer / Secret Weapon
Data Project Coordinator

15. BHL Global Governance
Dr. Elycia Wallis Dr. Nancy GwinnDr. Jiri Frank

17. And Growth of Content: 2007-
2015
47,166,662 pages
166,903 items
98,861 titles
145K+ articles
September 2015

18. Publisher Agreements
Increase agreements
with publishers of in
copyright materials
► 390+ titles
► 160+ publishers
March 2015

19. And growth of users (CY 2014):
2007
2014
151,944 visitors | March 2014
- 927,371 visitors
- 1,568,460 sessions
- 4.7m page visits
- 57.49% vs 42.51% new vs. recurring

20. …to this?

21. Mobile/Tablet Usage
10.19% sessions(32% iPad)
Mobile/Tablet Sessions CY 2014
5.96% sessions(45% iPad)
Mobile/Tablet Sessions CY 2013

22. BHL Usage: Africa: By
Country

23. BHL Usage: Africa: By City

24. BHL Usage: Africa: By Region

25. BHL Usage: Africa: By Region

26. BHL Usage: Africa: By Region

27. BHL Usage: Africa: By Region

28. BHL Usage: Africa: By Region

29. TheMachineIsUs/ingUs
<Response xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-
instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Status>ok</Status>
<Result>
<Item>
<ItemID>16800</ItemID>
<Volume/>
<Contributor>MBLWHOI Library</Contributor>
<Sponsor>MBLWHOI Library</Sponsor>
<Language>English</Language>
<LicenseUrl/>
<Rights/>
<DueDiligence/>
<CopyrightStatus/>
<CopyrightRegion/>
</Item>
</Result>
</Response>
But many "visits" are
from other machines

30. 27+ million visitors in total | 96K + images (2014)

31. And now increased archival content
► 500+ Field Notes
► Use of transcription tools

32. New areas like Biodiversity Library Exhibitions

33. Committed to Open AccessIn 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

34. Inspiring Discovery through
Free Access to Biodiversity
Knowledge Vision
The Biodiversity Heritage
Library improves
research methodology
by collaboratively
making biodiversity
literature openly available
to the world as part of a
global biodiversity
community.
Mission

35. Looking Forward
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

36. “BHL is radically changing the
status quo and democratizing
access to knowledge about
biodiversity. Now anybody in the
world has instant access to the
original species description
in a couple of clicks!”
Dr. John S., Ichthyologist

37. "I think BHL is one of the most important and useful
resources online right now. Judging by how often I use it,
I’d say it has an impact on my research commensurate
with that of Google Scholar or Web of Science.”
Andrew D., Herpetologist

38. “BHL is a tremendous and extremely valuable
resource. It has done an enormous amount to
enhance the capacity of developing countries
to undertake taxonomic research on their biota.”
Dr. Dai H., Malacologist

39. Thank You!