Archive for April, 2013

BHL Africa is Launched

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

Beginning on April 12, I had the privilege of attending the launch of a newpartner in the BHL family:  BHL Africa.  On April 12, 2013, BHL and the University of Pretoria signed a Memorandum of Understanding as one step towards the BHL Africa.

Signing of the MOU: BHL and the University of Pretoria. Robert Moropa, Library Director, Nancy Gwinn, BHL Chair, Connie Rinaldo, BHL Vice-Chair, Ria Groenewald, Digitization Librarian, University of Pretoria

Then from April 15-17, 2013 we attended the BHL-Africa launch and workshop, hosted by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden in Pretoria, South Africa.  MOUs were gathered from a number of African partners, including the National Museums of Kenya, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Sokoine National Agricultural University in Tanzania, National Environment Management Authority of Uganda, Lake Victoria Basin Commission, African Conservation Commission, and the Kenya Wildlife Service.  SANBI signed the MOU with BHL in a ceremony on April 15.

Dr. Nancy Gwinn and Dr. Tanya Abrahamse sign the BHL-Africa MOU

The launch of BHL Africa became a reality!  Once BHL Africa was launched, a workshop followed with presentations by BHL members about Collections, Copyright, Governance, Global BHL and Outreach.  We shared how we have reached the current state with our African colleagues and fielded questions.

BHL Africa Launch attendees from all over Africa and some of us from the US.

The next step was to elect officers for the BHL AfricaSteering Committee so  everyone can get to work!  We look forward to sharing content along with our process and seeing a whole new set of information added to the BHL with open access for all.

BHL Africa Steering Committee, from left to right: Lawrence Monda (Technical Advisor), Ashah Owano, Loi Namugenyi, Anne-Lise Fourie (Chair), Ria Groenewald

 

There was even time to do a little sight-seeing.  Congratulations to BHL Africa–the energy, enthusiasm and sheer hard work we witnessed will ensure success.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Biodiversity Heritage Library Africa launches! (Repost from BHL blog)

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Reposting from the BHL blog

BHL Africa Officially Launches!

We’re so excited to announce that today, Monday, April 15, 2013, BHL-Africa has officially launched!

Today’s launch ceremony (hosted by theSouth African National Biodiversity Institute(SANBI) at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden in Pretoria, South Africa) began with a welcome by Dr. Tanya Abrahamse, SANBI CEO, after which she and Nancy Gwinn (Chair of the BHL Executive Committee) signed the BHL-Africa MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Nancy Gwinn then gave a presentation detailing the history of BHL’s development, and Anne-Lise Fourie, Assistant Director for SANBI libraries, gave an overview of the BHL-Africa vision, mission, and benefits.

Working within the BHL consortium, BHL-Africa aims to provide open access to the valuable information held in Africa’s biodiversity institutions. Towards this end, the global BHL family works with the international taxonomic community, rights holders, and other interested parties to ensure that this biodiversity heritage is made available to a global audience through open access principles.

The next two days will consist of workshops aimed at outlining funding strategies, the responsibilities of BHL-African institutions, BHL-Africa’s role in the larger global BHL environment, and the contributions BHL-Africa will make to BHL. Check back on our blog for more detailed information about the launch and workshops, and follow the hashtag #bhlafrica on our Twitter (@BioDivLibrary) for real time news via live tweets!

Learn more about BHL-Africa in our past blog post and video. Take a break from your day job to enjoy an Africa safari!

And finally, enjoy these images of Africa’s biodiversity from the African Biodiversity Flickr Collection.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Biodiversity Heritage Library Announces Partnership with Digital Public Library of America

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

Reposting from the Biodiversity Heritage Library Blog:

Biodiversity Heritage Library Announces Partnership with Digital Public Library of America

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is pleased to announce that it will serve as a digital content hub within the Digital Public Library of America. The DPLA pilot project, which combines and centralizes links to the collections of participating cultural institutions, launches April 18 in Boston.

As a result of BHL’s participation as a digital content hub, links to over 111,000 BHL volumes will be available within the DPLA portal. Through the DPLA, the Biodiversity Heritage Library will collaborate with renowned libraries, universities, archives and museums to reach a wide national audience.

“The Biodiversity Heritage Library is excited to be part of the Digital Public Library of America and to provide an important body of literature that will support the important mission of providing openly available scientific publications,” said Martin Kalfatovic, BHL Program Director.

Kalfatovic served, along with founding BHL Technical Director Chris Freeland, as first co-chairs of the DPLA’s Technical Aspects Workstream.

“We are thrilled to have the Biodiversity Heritage Library as a Content Hub,” said Emily Gore, DPLA Director for Content. “The BHL shares the DPLA’s commitment to open access and global data sharing, and brings rich biodiversity collections from a number of natural history and botanical libraries to the DPLA.”

About the Digital Public Library of America

The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science. The DPLA aims to expand this crucial realm of openly available materials, and make those riches more easily discovered and more widely usable and used. More information is online at http://dp.la. To find out more about the DPLA launch, April 18-19 in Boston, visit http://dp.la/get-involved/events/launch/.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Closed

New book list, April 3, 2013

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

Abalone: world-wide Haliotidae.
By Daniel L. Geiger & Buzz Owen. Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks, 2012. HOLLIS# 013643293
QL430.5.H34 G45 2012

Adam’s navel; and other essays.
By Stephen Jay Gould. London: Penguin, 1995. HOLLIS# 013636993
QH367.G68 1995 [gift of the Invertebrate Paleontology Dept.]

Art and science in breeding [electronic resource]: creating better chickens.
By Margaret E. Derry. Toronto [Ont.]: University of Toronto Press, c2012. HOLLIS# 013633492
SF488.C3 D47 2012eb [available as an e-book]

Atlas zur Paläopathologie der Cephalopoden.
By Helmut Keupp. Berlin: Inst. für Geologische Wiss., Fachrichtung Paläontologie, 2012. HOLLIS# 013638976
QE806.K38 2012

Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology. Volumes 2b, 3-5.
George M. Garrity, editor-in-chief. 2nd ed. New York: Springer, 2001-<2011>. HOLLIS# 008691883
QR81.B46 2001 [available as an e-book]

Birds of the Dominican Republic & Haiti.
By Steven Latta … [et al.]; principal illustrators, Barry Kent MacKay, Tracy Pedersen, and Kristin Williams; supporting illustrators, Cynthie Fisher, Bart Rulon. Princeton: Princeton University Press, c2006. HOLLIS# 013643308
QL688.D6 B57 2006

A Conchological iconography (volumes 14, 15, 16).
Directed by Guido T. Poppe & Klaus Groh. Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks, 1999-. HOLLIS# 011919873
QL404.C65 1999 v. 14-16

Design with the desert: conservation and sustainable development.
Edited by, Richard Malloy … [et al.]. Boca Raton: CRC Press, c2013. HOLLIS# 013639163
QH541.5.D4 D475 2013

Ducks: habitat, behavior, and diseases.
James Hambrick and Laurie T. Gammon, editors. [Hauppauge] New York: Novinka, [2013]. HOLLIS# 013639170
QL696.A52 D84 2013

EAF toolbox: the ecosystem approach to fisheries.
Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012. HOLLIS# 013639411
SH329.S87 E27 2012

Extant and fossil spiders (Araneae).
Joerg Wunderlich (ed.); editor and author of most papers as well, Joerg Wunderlich. Hirschberg, Germany: Pub. House J. Wunderlich, [2011]. HOLLIS# 013642340
QL458.4.E88 2011

Fifteen papers on extant and fossil spiders (Araneae).
Joerg Wunderlich (ed.); editor and author of most papers as well, Joerg Wunderlich. Hirschberg: Wunderlich, [2012]. HOLLIS# 013642338
QL458.4.F54 2012

Fishes of Japan: with pictorial keys to the species. Volumes 1-3.
Edited by Tetsuji Nakabo. Third edition. Tokyo: Tokai University Press, 2013. HOLLIS# 009032311.
QL634.J3 N445 2013 v. 1-3

Fossil spiders in amber and copal: conclusions, revisions, new taxa, and family diagnoses of fossil and extant taxa = Fossile Spinnen in Bernstein und Kopal: Rückschlusse, Revisionen, Neubeschreibungen und Familien-Diagnosen fossiler und heutiger Spinnen.
Editor, Jörg Wunderlich. Hirschberg-Leutershausen, Germany : Verlag Joerg Wunderlich,[2004]. HOLLIS# 013642347
QE825.F67 2004 Pt. A-B

Der Flussbarsch: Perca fluviatilis ; Biologie, Ökologie und fischereiliche Nutzung.
[By] Reiner Eckmann ; Diana Schleuter-Hofmann.1. Aufl.Hohenwarsleben: Westarp, 2013. HOLLIS# 013644211
QL638.P4 E34 2013

Genome-wide prediction and analysis of protein–protein functional linkages in bacteria.
Vijaykumar Yogesh Muley, Vishal Acharya. New York: Springer, [2013]. HOLLIS# 013614679
QP551.5.M85 2013

Large mammals of Myanmar.
By U. Sein Tu. 1st ed. Yangon: Innwa Publ. House and the Wildlife Conservation Society (Myanmar Program), 1998. HOLLIS# 013642388
QL729.B93 S45 1998

Mammals of Africa, volumes 1-6.
Series editors, Jonathan Kingdon … [et al.]; illustrated by Jonathan Kingdon. London: New York: Bloomsbury, 2013. HOLLIS# 013608413
QL731.A1 M36 2013 v. 1-6

Monograph of the little slit shells.
By Daniel L. Geiger. 1st ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, c2012. HOLLIS# 013643299
QL430.5.S25 G45 2012 v. 1-2

Ein Sammelband.
Jörg Wunderlich (Ed.). Straubenhardt: Verlag Jörg Wunderlich, 1994. HOLLIS# 013642493
QL458.4.S25 1994

The spider families of Europe: keys, diagnoses and diversity; a bilingual manual = Die Spinnen-Familien Europas.
Editor and author: Joerg Wunderlich. Hirschberg: Jörg Wunderlich, 2012. HOLLIS# 013642344
QL453.4.A1 W85 2012

Symbiosis: evolution, biology, and ecological effects.
Editors, Alejandro F. Camisão and Celio C. Pedroso. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science, c2013. HOLLIS# 013639198
QH548.S94 2013

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Closed