A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone

Source: The Guardian Link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/18/natural-world-digital-biodiversity-heritage-library-scientific-knowledge-free-access-aoe Published: June 18, 2026 Keywords: Canada The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt Some go there to read about the wood that Victorian manufacturers used to make walking sticks. Others want to see an illustration of a Tasmanian tiger or marvel at the field diary of one of the first known botanists to explore the Antarctic. Over the past 20 years, more than 64m pages have been made freely available through the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) – a digital treasure trove for fans of the natural world. More than 680 museums, universities, libraries and scientific institutions from China, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand to Europe, Africa, Mexico, Canada and the US, have contributed to the library. Manuscript on parchment from the Circa instans . Dating from about 1190, it is the oldest book in the digital library. Photograph: LuEsther T Mertz Library/New York Botanical Garden/Biodiversity Heritage Library Continue reading... --- This article was automatically collected by the Observatory News Scraper.