BHL Welcomes Three New Affiliates

BHL is pleased to welcome three long-time Partners as the consortium’s newest Affiliates: BHL Egypt, BHL China, and BHL SciELO.

The BHL consortium now consists of 18 Members and 18 Affiliates. Members and Affiliates contribute content, provide technical services, and participate in BHL committees, task forces, and working groups. Additionally, Members, who contribute 10,000 USD in annual dues, have governance privileges and vote on strategic directives.

BHL Egypt 

BHL Egypt, led by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), joined the Biodiversity Heritage Library in 2009. A major library and cultural center located in Alexandria, Egypt, Bibliotecha Alexandrina has long brought considerable technical expertise to the BHL consortium. The BA provides access to a subset of the BHL collection through its own Digital Assets Repository, which features an Arabic-aware (right to left) book reader. As an Affiliate, BHL Egypt will continue to provide technical support and services to facilitate BHL’s ongoing development.

BHL China 

BHL China, founded by the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the Biodiversity Heritage Library’s first Affiliate in China. Established in 1928, the Institute of Botany is one of the oldest comprehensive research institutions in China. Host to the largest herbarium in Asia, two botanical gardens, and several laboratories, the Institute is a national leader in the development of the country’s plant science research. Since first joining BHL as a partner in 2010, the Institute of Botany has contributed over 325,000 pages to BHL through the BHL China program.

BHL SciELO 

The BHL SciELO Network is the Biodiversity Heritage Library’s first Affiliate in South America. BHL SciELO is implemented by the Scientific Electronic Library (SciELO) Program, which encompass a network of national collections of open access journals in 15 countries. SciELO Brazil coordinates the BHL SciELO Network involving the main biodiversity libraries of Brazil with political and financial support from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the Secretary of Biodiversity of the Ministry of Environment. SciELO joined BHL as a partner in 2010, and since then it has contributed over 107,000 pages to BHL’s collection.