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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.
Group of BHL representatives standing in front of glass doors.
2019 BHL Annual Meeting
The 2019 BHL Annual Meeting was held 29 April - 3 May in Ithaca, New York. Hosted by the Albert R. Mann Library of Cornell University, the Meeting brought together 34 participants from 23 institutions, representing 9 countries.

The meeting agenda included reports on the state of the consortium, facilitated discussions around key program areas, a strategic planning session, a panel session with BHL partner representatives, a public event with a panel of Cornell scientists, and many amazing tours and excursions.

Man examining beetles in a collection drawer.
Dr. Thomas McElrath
"The BHL is an integral research tool for beetle systematists like me. I absolutely love it. It has saved me time, money, and resources."

Campaign graphic from Her Natural History.
Her Natural History
For Women's History Month in March, BHL and its global partners celebrated women in natural history with the international social media campaign — Her Natural History .

From social media and blog posts to book and illustration collections, Facebook Live events, and citizen science opportunities, Her Natural History aimed to increase awareness of and information about women in the biodiversity sciences.

Reaching over 7.5 million people, Her Natural History allowed BHL to expand its reach and engagement with existing and new audiences in notable ways.

Illustration of microscopy from Worlds of Wonder.
Worlds of Wonder
In the mid-19th century, microscopy became immensely popular with European and American naturalists. Richly-illustrated publications provided windows into the world as seen through the microscope, while microscopy journals invited their readers to contribute inquiries and observations.

You can explore the history of microscopy with Worlds of Wonder !

A new citizen science project on Zooniverse created by researchers at Maastricht University, Worlds of Wonder asks volunteers to help classify and tag microscopy illustrations from publications in BHL to help researchers explore the formation of 19th century microscopist communities.

Photo of a horse carriage going through a tunnel in a sequoia tree.
Galen Clark: The Guardian of Yosemite
Galen Clark was instrumental in the preservation and development of Yosemite as a national park. His The Big Trees of California (1907) details the history and biology of sequoias in the state.

Updates to BHL Data Exports
We recently implemented additions and changes to the export files available from BHL. The updates include a new set of exports containing only data for material that is hosted by BHL and the addition of BHL Author Identifiers to Creator export files.

Photo of a woman holding a drawer of moths.
Dr. Jessica P. Gillung
"If it wasn’t for BHL, I would not have been able to access many original species descriptions and compare them to the specimens I had at hand. Through those comparisons, mainly, I was able to recognize a new species or identify a previously described one."
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Inspiring Discovery through Free Access to Biodiversity Knowledge.
BHL makes it easier than ever for you to access the information you need to study and explore life on Earth…for free, anytime, anywhere.
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