All posts tagged with smithsonian-libraries

Recently, the librarians at the Smithsonian Libraries’ Botany-Horticulture Library uncovered a “mini-mystery” involving one of our titles. It started when the botanical illustrator in the Smithsonian’s Department of Botany got a call from a colleague asking why a work in BHL was appearing with black and white illustrations rather than the beautiful color originals.

This Saturday, June 8, is World Oceans Day, the UN-designated day for the global community to celebrate and take action to protect Earth’s oceans. 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, and every living thing depends on water to survive. Sadly, according to the United Nations, with the world eating more seafood than ever before, approximately 2/3 of the ocean’s species are overfished.

It’s time to take a break from work and celebrate John James Audubon’s Birthday with the BHL! This was the man who is best remembered for his masterpiece Birds of America which is arguably the most prized Natural History work in existence. Just last year, the Smithsonian successfully digitized their entire set of all 435 copperplate etchings that contain 1,065 life-size birds representing around 500 species. Audubons’ birds are now available to be enjoyed and freely downloaded by all.

On February 22, 2013, we announced that the Library of Congress (LoC) had become the fifteenth member of BHL! As a Steering Committee member, Library of Congress will help us further build the BHL collection by digitizing books in their vast library of over 151 million items.

Be a Marketing Intern for BHL! Are you a library student or recent graduate? Do you love biodiversity, writing, and old books? Love to blog, tweet, and post on Facebook? Then our new internship opportunity, hosted through the Smithsonian Libraries, is perfect for you! Learn more and apply today!