This month (April 2022) marks my tenth year as the BHL Program Director. Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen a lot of change — and a lot of growth — with the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Taking over from our first Program Director, Tom Garnett, was a daunting challenge. Tom led the initial funding of BHL through the MacArthur Foundation grant with the Encyclopedia of Life and the establishment of BHL as a global consortium.

Among my first tasks as BHL Program Director was to build on that legacy with the transition of BHL from a grant funded organization to a member-driven one. Likewise, those first months of my tenure saw the close out of the BHL Europe project (which led to our continued strong European presence) and the planning meetings (and later launch) of BHL Africa.

Martin Kalfatovic at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin for the 2012 BHL Europe meeting. Photo credit: Grace Costantino

An early transition for me as Program Director was the departure of BHL’s technical guidestar, Chris Freeland (Missouri Botanical Garden) and the transition of Global Coordinator, William Ulate to that role. Later, technical coordination of BHL moved to Joel Richard (Smithsonian Libraries and Archives). Even during these leadership transitions, BHL’s many technical innovations were implemented and led by BHL developer, Mike Lichtenberg.

The past 10 years have been years of growth. BHL saw the addition of 20 partners as well as the creation of the reciprocal partner affiliation. Content also grew by over 21.3 million pages. Other important markers in the past 10 years include BHL being an inaugural partner of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), deepening the relationship of BHL with important biodiversity initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the Catalogue of Life, and the Global Names Architecture.

During this time, BHL also initiated or closed out important grant funded initiatives done in collaboration with many different BHL partners, these included Art of Life (2012-2015); Purposeful Gaming (2013-2015); Mining Biodiversity: Enriching the Biodiversity Heritage Library with Text Mining and Social Media (2014-2016); Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (2015-2017); Foundations to Actions: Extending Innovations in Digital Libraries in Partnership with NDSR Learners (2016-2018); and the Field Notes Project (2016-2018).

I’ve also had the pleasure of accepting the following awards for BHL on behalf of all those who have worked on BHL: Laureate. IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program (2013); Charles Robert Long Award of Extraordinary Merit. Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (2015); Internet Archive Hero Award. Global Leaders in Sharing Knowledge (2015); and Digital Library Federation (DLF) 2016 Community/Capacity Award (2016).

Internet Archive Hero Award (2015). Chris Freeland (Washington University at the time), Carolyn Sheffield (BHL), Keri Thompson (Smithsonian), Martin Kalfatovic (BHL), Wendy Hanamura (Internet Archive). Photo Credit: Brad Shirakawa.

In my role as BHL Program Director, I’ve had the support of BHL Secretariat staff past and present. Past BHL Program Managers Grace Costantino and Carolyn Sheffield did invaluable work during their tenure, work carried on by current Program Manager Colleen Funkhouser. Grace Costantino later provided a blueprint for BHL’s outreach and communication program; and our newest addition, JJ Dearborn, will take BHL into important new areas as BHL Data Manager. Bianca Crowley, BHL Collections Manager, has provided me with valuable assistance in working with BHL staff and collections around the world.

The work of the BHL Secretariat, and my work as Program Director, would not be possible without the guidance and support of the BHL Executive Committee (EC). It has been an honor to work with two EC Chairs, Nancy E. Gwinn (Smithsonian), and Constance Rinaldo (MCZ/Harvard). The other Member representatives who served as Vice-Chair and Secretary have provided crucial input.

The opportunities to work with and learn from BHL partner representatives, partner staff, and others (often in windowless conference rooms in the great museums and botanical gardens of the world!) has given me a wealth of knowledge in biodiversity, technology, and librarianship. Brewster Kahle and the amazing staff (past and present) of the Internet Archive have provided me, and BHL, with many new ideas that have advanced our work.

Brewster Kahle (Internet Archive) and Martin Kalfatovic (BHL) in 2017 with the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Having served as Secretary, Vice-Chair, and currently Chair, Connie Rinaldo has been the single constant in my time with BHL, both as Program Director and in previous capacities. Without her leadership, and most importantly her burning passion for BHL’s capacity to create meaningful change, my work would be harder and BHL less successful.

Constance Rinaldo and Martin Kalfatovic in Madagascar for the 2015 GBIF Governing Board Meeting.

The past two years of a global pandemic have been challenging for us all, as individuals and for our institutions. I’ve been proud to provide guidance to all my BHL colleagues as they have helped BHL navigate this time. I’m looking forward to our 2022 BHL Annual Meeting in Edinburgh where I will have the chance to talk about directions for BHL into the future!

The Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) is launching a new initiative to reward early-career researchers, within the fields of taxonomy, biodiversity and geodiversity science, who base their research on natural science collections. E-SCORE – Excellence in Scientific Collections-based Research, is a celebration of the new generation of scientists who have shown dedication to the use of collections that help document, describe and understand life on earth, and the processes that have shaped it. The award also celebrates the United Nations endorsed International Day for Biological Diversity, which falls annually on the 22nd of May to commemorate the 1992 adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. CETAF will award E-SCORE for the first time in 2020 to mark the end of the UN International Decade of Biodiversity.

The foundations of E-SCORE are the natural-scientific collections that are hosted, preserved and curated in research organisations across the European Community and in associated countries with CETAF member institutions. The research staff of these institutions explore and document diversity in nature. The knowledge they collectively build provides a foundation on which policies and initiatives for nature conservation and the protection of natural resources are based. By awarding E-SCORE, CETAF wishes to highlight the significance of collections-based research in the fight against biodiversity loss and climate change.

FEATURES

The prize will be given annually and consists of three parts:

• A cash prize of 1,000 €;
• Financial support (up to 1,000 €) to facilitate a scientific visit of the Award Winner to one of the CETAF institutes;
• An invitation to the next CETAF Governing Board meeting for a (virtual) presentation of the winning research.

Young researchers from all over the world are eligible; affiliation with a CETAF member is not mandatory. For those without current affiliation, their application shall include a nomination from a member of a CETAF institution.

Applications are due by 31 January 2020. For more information, including eligibility criteria and the application form, go to the CETAF website.

Please spread this great opportunity widely in your networks and encourage all deserving young researchers to participate!

CETAF and BHL have been reciprocal partners since 2018. 

Flora Illustrata: Great works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden, edited by Susan M. Fraser and Vanessa Bezemer Sellers and published by The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) – a founding BHL Member – and Yale University Press, has been honored with two prestigious awards: the 2015 American Horticultural Society Book Award and the CBHL 2015 Annual Literature Award.

On 4 June, 2015, the American Horticultural Society named Flora Illustrata as one of its 2015 AHS Book Award Winners during the Great American Gardeners Awards Ceremony and Banquet in Alexandria, Virginia. The AHS Book Award, established in 1997, honors outstanding garden-related books published in North America. Candidates are judged on writing style, authority, originality, accuracy, and design quality. According to Rita Hassert, a botanical librarian at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, and one of the 2015 AHS Book Award Committee Members, “[Flora Illustrata] adeptly captures horticultural history through thoughtful, easy-to-understand discussions of the botanical and cultural significance of each piece.”

On 18 June, 2015, the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, Inc. (CBHL) presented Flora Illustrata with the 2015 Annual Literature Award as part of the Council’s 47th Annual Meeting in Decorah, Iowa. The award, in its sixteenth year, recognizes significant contributions to the literature of botany and horticulture. According to the CBHL press release about the 2015 award, “This work celebrates one of the nation’s most important botanical literature collections and was edited by a long time CBHL member Susan Fraser,” Director of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.

Flora Illustrata celebrates key works from the collections of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden. The Library is one of the most comprehensive resources about plants anywhere in the world, holding over one million cataloged items on horticulture, floriculture, botanical illustration, garden design and history, the exploration of the New World, and land management. Through a series of essays, each written by a leading authority, and a plethora of stunning illustrations, Flora Illustrata highlights selections spanning more than eight centuries, such as rare manuscripts and iconic books including Renaissance herbals, precious botanical drawings, explorers’ notebooks, and more, and presents the library’s collection within the context of larger cultural and historical events throughout the ages.

“The contributors and editors not only describe the contents within the books but their importance as physical objects, noting the significance of the paper used, typefaces and bindings,” states the CBHL 2015 Annual Literature Award press release. “The essays tell the stories of how some books came to be written, illustrated, and their social, cultural and scientific significance when first published as well as their present day influence and importance. Anyone who loves history, art, plants and gardens will enjoy this book.”

Key themes throughout the book include the roles played by preeminent explorers, scientists, publishers, artists, and printmakers across the centuries, the development of bookmaking and graphic arts, and the scientific progress that led to improved identification and representation of plants. The first and final chapters also detail the history, development, and purpose of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.

“The LuEsther T. Metz Library is unquestionably one of the great treasures of the world,” praised Thomas E. Lovejoy, Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation and University Professor in the Environmental Science and Policy department at George Mason University. “Flora Illustrata reveals with stunning scholarship the deeply intertwined history of plants, science, and humanity. Rich and fascinating beyond imagination and now accessible to anyone. A triumph of a book.”

The LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden is one of the founding institutions of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Susan M. Fraser, co-editor of Flora Illustrata and Director of the Mertz Library, is the NYBG representative to BHL and former BHL Executive Committee Secretary. NYBG has contributed over 3.8 million pages to BHL to date. Explore NYBG’s collection in BHL today.

Martin Kalfatovic

As noted in our blog post from March 22, 2013, BHL was named a 2013 Computerworld Honors Program Laureate.

On June 3rd, BHL Chair Nancy Gwinn and I accepted the award on behalf of BHL and BHL staff at the Computerworld Honors Laureate Ceremony and Awards gala held in the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.

In addition to the presentation of the laureate medals, the event was keynoted by Vinton Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, and, truly, one of the “creators of the Internet.”

About the award:

Established in 1988, and celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Computerworld Honors Program brings together the men, women, organizations and institutions around the world whose visionary applications of information technology promote positive social, economic and educational change.

Laureates’ achievements will be recognized publicly at the Computerworld Honors Laureate Ceremony and Awards Gala being held at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. on June 3, 2013. During this black tie ceremony, honorees are presented with a medallion inscribed with the Program’s mission, “A Search for New Heroes.” Additional recognition is given to five Laureates in each category who, selected by Program Judges to represent outstanding innovation, become Finalists for the 21st Century Achievement Award. One Finalist in each category is then named a 21st Century Achievement award winner, receiving special recognition by the Program Judges to be the very best among their peers.