Biodiversity Heritage Library turns 10

In May 2005, under auspices of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL), David Schindel organized a meeting in London of a Database Working Group that addressed access to biodiversity literature.  Their discussions led directly to establishment of the Biodiversity Heritage Library, a consortium of libraries of natural history museums, under the leadership of Thomas Garnett (Smithsonian, Washington DC) and Graham Higley (Museum of Natural History, London) and to a request for funds, which the Richard Lounsbery Foundation supported 25 April 2006.  Jesse Ausubel encouraged the development at each stage.  April 11th kicks-off the Biodiversity Heritage Library’s 10th anniversary celebration, “BHL at 10: Celebrating Ten Years of Inspiring Discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge.” BHL now offers about 50 million pages.  Congratulations to all, and enjoy.