Biodiversity
Posted by: Barbara Bibel
Biologists and anyone interested in the life sciences are concerned about preserving the many life forms on our planet. They also need access to the scientific literature to conduct their research. Unless one is near a major academic library, this can be difficult. The Biodiversity Heritage Library just made it much easier. A consortium of major academic science libraries at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ offers digitized, open access versions of the legacy literature for researchers, searchable by keyword, subject, author, title, scientific name, and citation. They may read online or download as PDF, JPeg, or OCR text files. A tutorial will help users with the download process. The literature on the site is also the core of the Encyclopedia of Life. There are currently 47,860 titles, 94,886 volumes, and 25,498,527 pages in the collection. Sidebars on the home page provide updates, featured titles, a book of the week, user profiles. A wiki provides a discussion forum and tools for contributors. The library has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flicker, Slideshare, and LinkedIn as well. This is a fine resource for those in need of the life sciences literature.
