Volumes of the Biological Bulletin, on the shelf of the MBLWHOI Library. Photo by: Matthew Person.

The venerable science journal the Biological Bulletin has been published in association with the Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods Hole, Massachusetts for over 120 years. Presently, the publisher is the University of Chicago Press, with the editorial office in Woods Hole managed by longtime Editor, Carol Schachinger.

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) was founded in 1888 through the diligent efforts of working scientists and Boston community leaders deeply invested in the marine and associated biological sciences as a tools to conduct research and develop diverse educational opportunities for the study of marine model organisms, through experimental work ultimately leading to an improved understanding of the human condition.

Cover. Biological Bulletin (Volume 236, Number 3, June 2019). Image reprinted by permission of the Biological Bulletin.

The June 2019 issue of the Biological Bulletin (Volume 236, Number 3) has an informative and beautiful cover illustration of the venous return half of the circulatory system of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), chosen to illustrate an article in the issue: Effects of the Biomedical Bleeding Process on the Behavior of the American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus, in Its Natural Habitat. The cover of this issue of the Biological Bulletin was designed from a freely downloaded Biodiversity Heritage Library file, coincidentally from a monograph about the horseshoe crab: Recherches sur l’anatomie des Limules — an 1873 work by Alphonse Milne-Edwards, the French medical doctor, mammologist, ornithologist, and carcinologist (one who studies crustaceans) who was director of the French Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle from 1891-1900.

Plate of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) from “Recherches sur l’anatomie des Limules”, 5th Series, Tome 17, (1873) of the journal, Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Used for the cover of Biological Bulletin (Volume 236, Number 3, June 2019). Contributed in BHL from the MBLWHOI Library.

In the MBLWHOI Library this volume, interestingly, is shelved both in the climate controlled secure Rare Books Room and separately in the freely accessible journal stacks as an article in the 5^th Series, Tome 17, (1873) of the journal, Annales des Sciences Naturelles. For important monographic works, multiple shelving locations in the pre-electronic age was common. Much of this content is also available in BHL in the multi-volume work partly edited by Alphonse Milne-Edwards: Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l’Amérique Centrale : ouvrage publié par ordre de S.M. l’Empereur et par les soins du Ministre de l’instruction publique (1873). The introductory pages of this work speak of the ancient horseshoe crab, living over broadly distributed coastal swaths of the earth, yet the scientific community at that time was stumped as to how this creature was related to other similar species.

Photo (1883) of Alphonse Milne-Edwards, the author of “Recherches sur l’anatomie des Limules”, from which came the illustration of the horseshoe crab used on the cover of the Biological Bulletin, (Volume 236, Number 3, June 2019). By Th. Truchelut & Valkman, photographers. Upload, stitch and restoration by User:Jebulon – Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.

We noticed another aspect of the MBLWHOI Library Rare Books Collection copy of this monograph scanned into BHL. The title page is inscribed by the probable original owner of the volume: “Kingsley”. Looking at the History of the Marine Biological Laboratory’s online database of scientists, we see that biology professor John Sterling Kingsley (1854-1929) — who had appointments during his career at the universities of Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, and Tufts University, and was editor of books such as The Riverside Natural History series (1885) — spent summers from the late 1880’s to the mid 1910’s doing research at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.

People often wonder how academic research libraries grow and become institutions unto themselves. This example illustrates one method of library growth. With Kinglsey’s name inscribed on page one of Recherches sur l’anatomie des Limules, the book was most probably given to the then-MBL Library by Kingsley or his heirs — one of thousands of volumes over 130+ years which became a part of the Library’s collection in that manner.

Photo of John Sterling Kingsley, the original owner of the MBLWHOI Library copy of “Recherches sur l’anatomie des Limules”, available in BHL. Source: MBL archives. CC-BY-NC-SA.

We spoke with Biological Bulletin Managing Editor Carol Schachinger about the process of selecting a cover for a journal issue. She told us that out of the body of articles comprising a new issue published every two months, an appropriate cover image to be considered for publication often naturally rises to the top. In the case of V.236, n.3 of the Biological Bulletin, however, this did not initially happen, and even after contacting article authors for possible cover issue suggestions, Schachinger was still without a cover image as the issue headed towards completion.

Schachinger’s alternate plan was to begin making simple online image searches related to issue articles. As the horseshoe crab has been one of the most important studied marine organisms at the Marine Biological Laboratory, it was natural to look for images of this organism, and shortly, the plates from Milne-Edwards’ monograph appeared in simple Google website searches as distinct possibilities for a cover image.

At first, she did not realize the image she ultimately chose was from the holdings of the MBLWHOI Library, nor did she realize the image was from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Carol was also not aware of the flickr feed of BHL images, which was another access point for this image (and many thousands of images extracted directly from the electronic pages of BHL content). However, when she selected plate 14 of the horseshoe crab circulatory system as the probable cover illustration for the June 2019 issue of the Biological Bulletin, she contacted the librarians at the MBLWHOI Library to ask about proper attribution and the workflow for downloading the out-of-copyright image. They directed her to the FAQ pages of BHL, where all of this information sits.

Thus the v.236, n.3 issue of the Biological Bulletin finally had cover art.

The MBLWHOI Library

In 1888, the sea-side Marine Biological Laboratory heeded the charge of its first Director, Charles Otis Whitman (1842-1910), with reference to the building of a working library to serve its scientists. Woods Hole on Cape Cod was just too far from the Boston research institutions for MBL to rely upon libraries there to provide library services to a small Cape Cod research institution (which would eventually grow into a biological research facility of global renown). Dr. Whitman said: “A library is a necessity in such a laboratory…We must have at a minimum to begin with, all the important journals now printed in the four principal languages.” Jump forward 120 years hence, the MBLWHOI Library (the joint library of the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, founded in 1930) was a founding partner of the Biodiversity Heritage Library, providing key technical and library staff support to BHL at its founding in 2006, and continuing to this day.

Image of a cover of Animal Keepers’ Forum, featuring a simple line drawing of a person pulling a wheelbarrow and carrying a shovel over one shoulder, in front of an enclosure with a horse. Text reads: “Animal Keepers’ Forum”, “Dedicated to Professional Animal Care.” Animal Keepers’ Forum. 1978. Digitized in BHL by Smithsonian Libraries.

Animal Keepers’ Forum, first published by the American Association of Zookeepers in 1974, set out to solve a problem: animal care and conservation requires specialized knowledge, but institutions were limited in their ability to share experience with each other. Animal Keepers’ Forum has connected animal care professionals for the past 44 years, and serves as both a current resource for husbandry best practices and a historical record of conservation efforts.

Now it’s openly accessible on the Biodiversity Heritage Library as part of the Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Thanks to permission from the American Association of Zookeepers, Smithsonian Libraries has digitized the complete run of volumes from 1974 through the present, with a 2-year embargo period.

The 2015 special issue on prosimians gives a great sample of the publication’s scope: Duke University’s Lemur Center details their husbandry practices for mouse lemurs, with specifics from housing and diet to breeding and animal biometrics; St. Louis Zoo explains how they sustainably grow and harvest browse for their Coquerel’s Sifakas; and the Lemur Conservation Foundation shares how the AKO Project uses storytelling through picture books helps engage kids in wildlife conservation.

An image of two children’s picture-book covers featuring paintings of lemurs, and a photograph of children posing with picture books and smiling. Animal Keepers’ Forum. 2015. Digitized in BHL by Smithsonian Libraries.

Photo of four chicks perched in a line. The chicks are black and white with yellow beaks. Article title: ‘Hand-reading White-crested Laughing Thrushes (Garrulax leucolophus) as a Method of Increasing Captive Population Sustainability’. Animal Keepers’ Forum. 2015. Digitized in BHL by Smithsonian Libraries.

The mission of the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK) is “to advance excellence in the animal keeping profession, foster effective communication beneficial to animal care, support deserving conservation projects, and promote the preservation of our natural resources and animal life,” according to its website. The AAZK was founded in 1967 in San Diego, CA. Its first publication was an unofficial newsletter called The Ruptured Rhino (1968-1969), which is also coming to BHL along with the AAZK Bulletin. Eventually, The Rupture Rhino led to Animal Keepers’ Forum, which became the association’s official publication in 1975.

Image of the first page of Animal Keepers’ Forum, v. 1 no.1. Transcription from ‘Editorial Comment’ by Dave Ruhter: “Among zoo keepers, as with very few other professions, there exists a void in intraprofessional communications. If you are fortunate enough to have access to zoo magazines or occasionally obtain an AAZPA newsletter, you can find out what’s going on in the zoo world. But what’s happening among keepers at Denver or Brookfield? When was the last time you heard of new programs at Tulsa or Los Angeles? As problems come up, have you ever wondered what your fellow professionals are doing in similar situations? This is what Animal Keepers’ Forum is all about. We are offering to you a vehicle of communication with topics that concern and interest keepers… the more knowledgeable you are, the more valuable you are to your animals and to your zoo.” Animal Keepers’ Forum. 1974. Digitized in BHL by Smithsonian Libraries.

Photograph of an ocelot, a small, spotted wild cat, in profile. Article title: Overnight Behavioral Study on 1.1 Brazilian Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). Animal Keepers’ Forum. 2015. Digitized in BHL by Smithsonian Libraries.

Until its digitization, accessibility to Animal Keepers’ Forum was fairly limited without a subscription. Jacqueline Chapman (Digital Collections Librarian) and Kristen Bullard (former Branch Librarian, National Zoological Park & Conservation Biology Institute and current Science Researcher Services Librarian, Natural & Physical Sciences Department) of Smithsonian Libraries authored a paper and presented at the 2017 AAZK National Conference to address the significance of making this resource available digitally and for free (‘Connecting Keepers to Collective Knowledge: The Digitization of Animal Keepers’ Forum and the Promise of Open Access to Zoological Scholarly Communication’).

They share that a search of the global online library catalogue WorldCat found only 30 libraries with Animal Keepers’ Forum, and that Smithsonian Libraries was the only institution listed as having a complete set of the periodical. As a result, it has been one of the most frequently requested titles from the Smithsonian’s Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute library branch through interlibrary loan. (While it is likely available at libraries that don’t participate in WorldCat, the WorldCat search result does indicate that it was relatively difficult to access for those without the resources to subscribe.)

“Some species are so unique that information about their care is hard to find and [Animal Keepers’ Forum] might be one of the only sources for this material,” Chapman and Bullard write. “The knowledge within [Animal Keepers’ Forum] is now available to anyone, allowing the best practices and lessons learned, this collective knowledge of zoo keepers, to be accessed without barrier to anyone. This will hopefully support capacity and knowledge building in institutions that have suffered from limited resources over time.”

Image of a cover of Animal Keepers’ Forum, featuring a simple black and white illustration of a California Condor chick being fed by a puppet resembling the head of an adult condor. The image is by Mary Deckert, a docent at the Los Angeles Zoo, which participates in a recovery program for this critically endangered species. Animal Keepers’ Forum. 2007. Digitized in BHL by Smithsonian Libraries.

Many thanks to: the American Association of Zookeepers for contributing this resource; the Institute of Museum and Library Services for funding the Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature project; Smithsonian Libraries for digitization; and Jacqueline Chapman and Kristen Bullard for sharing their insights!

References:

‘About Us’ (aazk.org)
‘Animal Keepers’ Forum’ (aazk.org)
‘Connecting Keepers to Collective Knowledge: The Digitization of Animal Keepers’ Forum and the Promise of Open Access to Zoological Scholarly Communication’ (Chapman & Bullard, 2017)

Taking a break from our miniseries of the past few months, featuring EOL Rubenstein fellows, this week we feature Megan Raby, who uses BHL to support her research involving the history of biology.