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Status Update: 20:45 ET 29 October: Internet Archive is back online. Page images are correctly displaying in BHL. Thanks for your patience!

At the end of the eighteenth century, the “father of German ornithology” began publishing a German translation of General Synopsis of Birds, an important work by John Latham, the “grandfather of Australian ornithology”. This German edition, entitled Johann Lathams Allgemeine Uebersicht der Vögel ([1792] 1793-1812), was translated and edited by Johann Matthäus Bechstein (1757-1822).

From July to September of this year, BHL received permission for 43 new in-copyright titles, all as part of the Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature project. This is a slight increase over the numbers added in the first two quarters. BHL licenses content under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license Below are the 43 titles added in the second quarter, in the order permission was secured. For those that have already been scanned or uploaded, links are available. Look for the rest as they’re added to the collection; you can check the recent additions, or see all the permission titles available in BHL on the permissions page. Titles in BHL have been digitized/contributed by the rights holders unless otherwise stated. Alabama Academy of Science Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science Denver Botanic Gardens Green Thumb News Green Thumb Newsletter Mountain, Plain, and Garden The Green Thumb American Association of Zoo Keepers AAZK Bulletin AAZK Newsletter Ruptured Rhino The Avicultural Society Avicultural Magazine Oregon Flora Project Oregon Flora Newsletter Kelly Allred The New Mexico Botanist New York State Ornithological Association The Kingbird The Arboretum Foundation Arboretum Bulletin University of Washington Arboretum Bulletin Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Lunds Botaniska Förening Opera Botanica, v.42 (1977) Illinois State Academy of Science Transactions Brooklyn Botanic Garden A Teaching Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Greater New York, Including the Kinds Most Commonly Seen in Cultivation (1933 and 1947 editions) Guide to Trees and Shrubs Based on Those of Greater New York: Native, Naturalized, and Commonly Cultivated Exotic Kinds Leaflet / Leaflets Plants and Gardens Plants of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York Florida Exotic Plant Pest Council and Southeast Exotic Plant Pest Council Wildland WeedsUniversity of Florida/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants Aquaphyte International Ornithologists’ Union IXe Congrès Ornithologique International, Rouen, 9 au 13 Mai 1938 (Digitized by Smithsonian Libraries) Tulane University Tulane Studies in Geology Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology University of Texas Austin Libraries Contributions in Marine Science University of Texas at Austin Bulletins and Publications African Violet Society of America African Violet Magazine Ohio Biological Survey Ohio Biological Survey Notes The Natural History Society of Maryland Bulletin Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society Maryland Naturalist Maryland: A Journal of Natural History Proceedings Texas Ornithological Society Bulletin of the Texas Ornithological Society Occasional Publications Desert Botanical Garden Agave Saguaroland Bulletin The Sonoran Quarterly Torrey Botanical Society Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club American Ornithological Society Proceedings of the XIIIth Ornithological Congress Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers Special Publications Department of Malacology, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Tryonia American Daffodil Society The Daffodil Bulletin The Daffodil Journal BHL thanks the many individuals and organizations who have so generously allowed their publications to be digitized and made available to the world under open access. If there’s a book or journal you would like to see in BHL, please let us know! And as always, don’t forget to follow BHL on Facebook, Twitter (@BioDivLibrary), Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous gems in the world. It attracts millions of visitors to the National Museum of Natural History each year, making it one of the Smithsonian’s most popular objects.

But what is the history of this famous jewel? How did it come to be the Hope Diamond?

Over the course of the Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (EABL) project, contributing organizations have shipped material to Internet Archive scanning centers around the country. A few have scanned their own material, and a few more have used third-party commercial services. One EABL contributor did things a little differently.

Betsy Kruthoffer, Librarian and Rare Books Cataloger at the Lloyd Library and Museum, selected a number of important titles from the library’s collection that were not in BHL. After weighing various scanning options, she got in touch with the digital lab at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH), which had done good work for a Lloyd patron the previous year (and, conveniently, is located right down the street). PLCH agreed to do the scanning, with the understanding that the digitized books would also be made available in a PLCH online collection.