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To all you chocolate lovers out there: one of the featured species on EOL this week was Theobroma cacao, better known as Cacao, from whence chocolate is created. So, in the spirit of collaboration, and with a desire to feature something as deliciously addictive as chocolate, we thought we’d pull some inspiration from this featured botanical delight and showcase Theobroma cacao in this week’s book of the week. So, check out To the River Plate and back : the narrative of a scientific mission to South America, with observations upon things seen and suggested (1913), by W.J. Holland.

Over the past few weeks, we here at the Biodiversity Heritage Library have been hard at work developing a user (that’s you!) survey. We’d like to know more about what you like about us, naturally, but we also need to know what you don’t like. As you may already be aware, the BHL is a work in progress. As such, we need your input to help guide the progression of our work over the next few years. We humbly request your assistance in responding to the BHL Survey 2010. This survey is a key component in our continuing efforts to build a library which is responsive to and serves the needs of our user communities (again, that’s you!). We can’t emphasize enough the value we place on your responses and ideas. They are sincerely appreciated and vital to further development.

The awareness of the need to protect endangered species has grown widely in the past few decades. The decimation of species throughout the world due to both natural and man-made conditions has pushed many species to the brink of extinction. While there are many efforts underway to protect and revive the species on the endangered list today, the struggle of many species to survive is still uncertain. This week’s book of the week, Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States (1980), published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, outlines some of the species that were facing this battle for survival thirty years ago.

The United Nations has been marking years for special observation since 1959. Since then, international relief agencies have rallied around Human Rights (1968), Apartheid (1978/79), Literacy (1994), and other issues that pose a global threat to sustained peace and prosperity. This year, the United Nations has named 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. The message is pretty simple. Individual lives are dependent on a healthy network of life. Human activity in the form of industry and commerce poses a threat to the health of that network.

As you may know, BHL recently acquired tens of thousands additional titles by ingesting open access texts supplied by the Internet Archive. Read the original announcement here.One title in particular stands out as one of those works that really highlights the passage of time, the evolution of scientific thought, and associative leaps we take for granted is Robert Lee Bates’ 1923 investigation “The effects of cigar and cigarette smoking on certain psychological and physiological functions”.

The lure of Antarctica has been captivating humans for hundreds of years, centuries even before the discovery of such a landmass occurred. Discussions about the existence of such a place were proposed as early as the first century AD, when Ptolemy suggested that there must be a giant landmass to the south serving to counterbalance the mass of the giant northern lands (Europe, Asia and North Africa) and preserve symmetry in the world. Following such proclamations, maps constructed as early as the 1500s began portraying a giant continent in the mysterious southern reaches of the globe. However, while belief in the existence of this southern continent permeated antiquity, it was not until the 1800s that confirmation of such a place actually occurred.