It is the study of crustaceans, a group of arthropods that includes lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, barnacles and crabs. One of the pre-eminent carcinologists (a scientist who studies crustaceans) of the first half of the twentieth century was Waldo LaSalle Schmitt. Born on this day (June 25) in 1887 in Washington, D.C., Schmitt held various positions within the United States Department of Agriculture, the Smithsonian, and the United States Bureau of Fisheries throughout his career. He authored more than 70 titles over his lifetime and was a member of numerous professional organizations, including president of the Society of Systematic Zoology and the Washington Academy of Sciences and a trustee of the Bear’s Bluff Laboratories, the International Oceanographic Foundation, and the Serological Museum of Rutgers University.

Waldo Schmitt. Obituary. Crustaceana (34) 1, 1978. http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/14597/14597.pdf.

While his primary field of investigation was carcinology, Schmitt actually began his career in 1907 as an Aid in Economic Botany for the United States Department of Agriculture, and his early work with natural history involved the study of both the flora and fauna of D.C. and Maryland. It was in 1910 that his true love affair with marine invertebrates began when he was appointed Aid in the Division of Marine Invertebrates at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). During the appointment, he met Mary Jane Rathbun, a fellow Smithsonian zoologist who specialized in crustaceans and described more than a thousand new species and subspecies and many higher taxa over her career. Her influence helped set Schmitt on his carcinology track, and an opportunity with the United States Bureau of Fisheries from 1911-14 helped solidify that decision.

From 1911-14, the USS Albatross, an iron-hulled, twin-screw steamer in the United States Navy that was reputedly the first research vessel ever built especially for marine research, conducted a scientific investigation of the west coast of America and Alaska. The expedition examined existing and searched for new fishing grounds around Alaska, surveyed existing fishing grounds off Washington and Oregon, and performed a biological survey of the San Francisco Bay. Schmitt served as Scientific Assistant and Naturalist aboard the Albatross during this expedition, and used the crustaceans gathered during the survey as the material for his M.A. thesis for the University of California, entitled The Marine Decapod Crustacea of California.

Diagram of a macruran decapod. Schmitt, Waldo. The Marine Decapod Crustacea of California. 1921. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37061600.

Following the survey, Schmitt returned to NMNH, where he held various positions in the Division of Marine Invertebrates (serving as Assistant Curator from 1915-20 and Curator from 1920-43), the Department of Biology (serving as Head Curator from 1943-47), and the Department of Zoology (Head Curator from 1947-57). After his retirement in 1957, Schmitt continued to serve as an Honorary Research Associate with the Smithsonian until his death in 1977.

Over his career, Schmitt took part in many more biological expeditions and field trips, studying crustaceans and other biodiversity in California, Florida, South America, the Galapagos Islands, and the West Indies. His last expedition took him to Antarctica.

View of vessel during specimen collecting near Peterman Island, Antarctica, 1962-63.  SIA RU007231, Box 140, Folder. Taken during Waldo Schmitt’s collecting during the Palmer Peninsula Survey 1962-63. Smithsonian Institution Archives. https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/6350334901/in/album-72157628142203202/.

The Palmer Peninsula Survey of the United States Antarctic Research Program studied marine invertebrates and vertebrates, geography, botany, and entomology in and around multiple Antarctic sites from 1962-63. Schmitt collected over 29,000 specimens for the NMNH during the survey, and in recognition of his work, a thirty-mile ice-covered series of outcrops at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula was named after him – Schmitt Mesa.

Schmitt kept a series of field books detailing his work on the Palmer Peninsula Survey, and two of them, covering the period from November 24, 1962-March 10, 1963, have been digitized by The Field Book Project and made available within the Biodiversity Heritage Library. They have also both been fully transcribed within the Smithsonian Transcription Center, making it even easier for you to browse Schmitt’s incredible notes (Diary 1 and Diary 2).

Penguins on the Palmer Peninsula, 10-11am, January 28, 1963. SIA RU007231, Box 140, Folder. Taken during Waldo Schmitt’s collecting during the Palmer Peninsula Survey 1962-63. Smithsonian Institution Archives. https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/6351079304/in/album-72157628142203202/.

An interesting excerpt from one of Schmitt’s digitized field books reveals his frustrations with the “college textbook oceanographers” serving on the Palmer Peninsula Survey. As Schmitt writes,

“College ‘students’ Ph.D.’s afloat. Two men are supposed to be on duty each operation or separate phase of work. Often (or at least at times) only one is around; and that one goes down to wake his relief; then without waiting to see that the awakened man gets up and onto the job goes off to bed. [It’s inconceivable].

Expensive gear is being towed behind, needs competent watch and attention, yet when ship stops or changes course, gear (or magnetometer) is endangered & then lost, and guy in charge of it blames the bridge for not notifying him of change – “they did not tell me.” Seems as though an alert man would realize change of course, absence of engine vibrations would sense at least some change requiring instrument care or retrieval. Much the same happens when wind direction dial in lab fails to register; student is aghast, I don’t know what’s wrong, I can’t get wind direction or force – a practical or experienced man could look outside or even through port & form an estimate as any old sea dog knows. Now I know why Coast guards & others are trained in sailing ships – to get practical experience – and to be able to form personal creditable and accurate determinations of wind, weather & sea conditions.

It would seem that any college textbook-oceanographer should serve an internship at Coast guard Acad (however limited) before being entrusted with valuable expensive and hard to replace gear & instruments. Nobody would let doctors fresh out of college operate on you, unless had interns experience, yet these Ph.D’s are turned loose without any first hand real practical [knowledge] of sea, & when balled out by one who knows the sea they resent it because man has had no college training… [they think] they know better because of textbook knowledge & the degree they have, a Ph.D. never made a man out of what wasn’t.”

Be sure to check out Schmitt’s field books to get more fascinating insight into the day-to-day life of a scientist at work in Antarctica.

Schmitt’s career was truly a remarkable one, contributing extensively to our knowledge of biodiversity and particularly crustaceans. In addition to the Schmitt Mesa named in his honor, the clam genus Waldo also bears his namesake. Check out other works by Waldo Schmitt in BHL and browse photos taken by him during his many expeditions, including the Palmer Peninsula Survey, from The Field Book Project in Flickr.

“Life is short but snakes are long.”

While some may recognize this as a quote from author David Quammen, it’s also the name of a place you can go to get some very cool information about snake natural history and herpetology research.

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus). Holbrook, John Edwards. North American Herpetology. v. 2. 1838. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3688392.

For instance, did you know that at least 15 species of spitting cobras in the genus Naja are capable of spitting their venom through the air as a defensive measure, and that some of them can aim “at targets the size of a human face with >90% accuracy up to 8 feet away”? Or that all 41 species of rattlesnakes are native to the Americas and are subject to “round-ups,” often rodeo-style, in many states? Or that the Aniliidae family contains just a single species – Anilius scytale or the American pipesnake – and that it was illustrated by Maria Sibylla Merian, a remarkable woman best known for documenting the metamorphosis of insects? Or how about this one: Snakes have two penises. Yeah, go read more about that!

Anilius scytale struggling with a caiman. Merian, Maria Sibylla. Over de voortteeling en wonderbaerlyke veranderingen der Surinaemsche insecten. 1719. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43328638.

All of this information, and much, much more, is available on the blog Life is Short, but Snakes are Long. The mastermind behind that blog is Andrew M. Durso, a PhD student in the Biology department at Utah State University.

Andrew M. Durso, holding a Hellbender, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis.

Studying snake and lizard ecology, physiology, and behavior, Andrew has been active in professional herpetology since high school. A fascination with the natural history of snakes, and a recognition of the need to education the public about snake and larger ecosystem conservation issues, compelled Andrew to start his blog as an outlet to share his research – research that is made significantly easier thanks to the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Andrew uses BHL weekly, reading pertinent titles online or downloading whole books or sections of books as part of his personal EndNote library. He’s even printed illustrations from BHL as decorative artworks for his home. These illustrations also often pop-up in his blog posts.

“I think BHL is one of the most important and useful resources online right now,” lauds Andrew. “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. It’s allowed me to discover and access literature that I would never have been aware of or have had access to otherwise.”

With such enthusiasm about accessing this literature on BHL, it’s no surprise that Andrew’s response to our question on what he would like to see improved on BHL was for us to add “more literature!” He also expressed a desire to see our scientific name finding tool and synonym harmonization continue to improve. As we implement multiple methods for improving our OCR (through projects such as Purposeful Gaming and Mining Biodiversity) and identifying the species in our illustrations (through Art of Life and Zooniverse), we expect to see the number of names recognized throughout BHL continually increasing.

Effective biodiversity research requires access to a multitude of natural history books and articles, but what if you had to single-out one title that had most impacted your research? Could you do it?

Andrew Durso can. Without question, his single-favorite item in BHL is Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril’s 1834-54 nine-volume masterpiece, Erpetologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Compléte des Reptiles (which we profiled on our blog just a few weeks ago!).

Mud snake (Farancia abacura). Duméril, André Marie Constant. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire naturelle complète des reptiles (1834-53). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31895886.

“I have three prints on my living room wall from BHL’s copy of this book, and it includes some of the most gorgeous artwork I’ve ever seen,” affirms Andrew. “It is also the only book that contains more original descriptions of reptiles than Linnaeus’s Systema Naturae. This monumental work gives a comprehensive scientific account of all then-known amphibians and reptiles, including their anatomy, physiology, systematics, distribution, and associated literature. As such, it is one of the classical monuments of descriptive zoology.”

Be sure to check out Andrew’s blog for other awesome information about snakes and herpetology research! Do you use BHL to support your own research? Want to tell us about it? Send an email to [email protected]!

Opening ceremony with Ghana Dance Ensemble

Global Biodiversity Heritage Library members participated in the Fourth International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives at the University of Ghana in Accra. The conference, 27-28 May 2015, was attended by representatives from across Africa, the United States, and Europe.

ICADLA:

is the major African forum focusing on digital libraries and associated technical, practical, organizational and social issues. ICADLA-4 was hosted by Ghana Library Association, University of Ghana Department of Information Studies and Ghana Library Authority.
Collaboration and participation was invited from regional and international policy and development institutions, archives, libraries, museums, government agencies and departments, all levels of educational institutions, funding institutions, and research centres.

Matilda Amissah-Arthur at dinner

The conference opened with welcome from Ernest Aryeetey, Vice-Chancellor (University of Ghana) and the Felix Kwakye Ofosu (Deputy Minister of Communication). The keynote was presented by Matilda Amissah-Arthur (Wife of the Vice President, the Republic of Ghana and former head of the Ghana Library Association).

Perpetua Sekyiwa Dadzie (Head of Department, Department of Information Studies, University of Ghana) led the conference and programming planning.

Kalfatovic with members of the Ghana delegation

Martin R. Kalfatovic, BHL Program Director, and Anne-Lise Fourie, BHL Africa, attended the conference and presented on the status of BHL Africa. Kalfatovic and Fourie’s presentation, African Digital Libraries in Global Content: The Biodiversity Heritage Library Model, is available online. Kalfatovic also moderated the panel “Adopting Integrated Approach To: Content Selection, Digitization, Curation and Preservation.”

Other coverage of the conference:

• Second lady advocates digital libraries in Africa. GhanaWeb
• 2nd Lady Calls For The Establishment A Regional Network Of Digital Libraries In Africa. Modern Ghana
• Experts Meet in Accra on Digitizing Libraries. Ministry of Communications, Republic of Ghana

Conference Group Photo

So you’ve been crowdsourcing and now you’ve collected lots of fantastic data. What do you do with it?

Or maybe you’ve been thinking about crowdsourcing but you’re not sure how you would integrate what you get with the data you already have.

The truth is that crowdsourcing often yields lots of fuzzy data and fuzzy solutions for reintegration with existing content. It can be challenging to figure out how to herd all of that fuzziness together in an effective way for reuse in your own project, library, or database.

Join staff from the Smithsonian Libraries and the Biodiversity Heritage Library at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA, on Saturday, 27 June, 2015, 8:30-10:00am, for “Herding the Fuzzy Bits: What do you do after Crowdsourcing?” We’ll share ideas for incorporating crowdsource-enhanced data from many sources (flickr, transcription, twitter) back into collections, along with approaches–including “whoopsies” and remaining challenges–for quality control, data discovery, data disagreement, building communities, and scalability. We’ll be using Twitter, and our own session hashtag #alafuzzy, as well as interactive activities (such as live polls!) to discuss successes and challenges and demonstrate the issues and methods at play.

You’ll also have a chance to win one of these fabulous fuzzy prizes!

One of the awesome fuzzy prizes you could win at our ALA session on crowdsourcing!

The session is free with conference registration. We encourage you to bring your own laptop and smart phone in order to get the most out of our interactive activities.

We look forward to seeing you there, and follow #alafuzzy on Twitter and Facebook for more information!

Graham Higley (left, Natural History Museum; and Tom Garnett (right, future BHL Program Director, Smithsonian Libraries)

On June 12, 2006, representatives from the first ten partners of the just forming Biodiversity Heritage Library met in Washington at the Smithsonian Institution to plan for the formation of the BHL.

Representatives from the Smithsonian Libraries; the Missouri Botanical Garden; the Natural History Museum (London); the Marine Biological Laboratory / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library; the American Museum of Natural History; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology; and the Field Museum attended the meeting. Representatives from the two remaining founding institutions, Harvard Botany Libraries and the New York Botanical Garden, were unable to attend.

Also attending the meeting were Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive, the longtime BHL partner in digitization activities; staff from OCLC; and representatives from a number of technology firms interested in the nascent work of the BHL.

Since 2006, BHL has grown from a group of ten founding institutions to a worldwide consortium of 23  Members and Affiliates in the US and the UK and global nodes in Europe, China, Brazil, Africa, Egypt, Mexico, Singapore, and Australia. We look forward to the next nine years, and hope to add many millions more pages to our library. Can we reach 100 million pages by 2024?

Rear left, Chris Freeland, Founding BHL Techinical Director * * * * *

(left to right) Neal Thompson and Bernard Scaife (NH London), Martin R. Kalfatovic (Smithsonian Libraries) and Brewster Kahle (Internet Archive)

Attendees at the first organizational meeting for BHL.