biodiversitylibrary.org

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world's largest open-access digital library dedicated to biodiversity literature and archives, revolutionizing research by providing free access to critical knowledge about Earth's species. Headquartered at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives in Washington, D.C., BHL collaborates with a global consortium of natural history, botanical, and national libraries to digitize an extensive range of natural history literature, thereby enhancing research efficiency during an era of ecological crisis.

BHL offers access to over 60 million pages of literature spanning from the 15th to the 21st centuries. The library not only houses public domain content but also works with rights holders to make in-copyright materials available under Creative Commons licenses. As part of its mission, BHL engages the public through volunteer projects and provides various data tools, APIs, and taxonomic intelligence resources to facilitate research. Since its inception in 2006, BHL has supported over 14 million global users, empowering them to study, explore, and conserve biodiversity.