Digitization in Support of Services @ Smithsonian Libraries. Martin R. Kalfatovic. Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board Orientation. Washington, DC. 5 May 2014.

1. 2 May 2014

2. William Henry Holmes, Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology, ca. 1905

3. Smithsonian Libraries, Natural History Main Library, ca. 2013

5. COLLECTIONS SERVICES
PRESERVATION DIGITIZATION

7. The cultivation of
natural science cannot
be efficiently carried
on without reference
to an extensive library
Charles Darwin, et al
(1847)‫‏‬
The Wherefore of BHL

8. Mass digitization of Smithsonian Libraries collections aligns with
the overall Smithsonian digitization strategy and remains a
center of excellence for rapid digitization at the Smithsonian

10. Members‫‏…‏‬University of Illinois is #16
16 Members
• American Museum of Natural History
• BHL Singapore
• California Academy of Sciences
Library
• Cornell University Library
• Harvard University Botany Libraries
• Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology
• Library of Congress
• Marine Biological Laboratory and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Library
• Missouri Botanical Garden Library
• Natural History Museum, London
• The New York Botanical Garden
• Royal Botanic Garden, Kew
• Smithsonian Institution Libraries
• United States Geological Survey
Libraries
• Washington University of St. Louis

11. Affiliates
Affiliates
Academy of Natural Sciences
Philadelphia at Drexel
University
The Field Museum Library
Natural History Museum of LA
County
Newest Affiliate:

12. Technology Library Science
Biodiversity Heritage Library

13. 43,479,358 pages
137,725 volumes
76,490 titles
2 May 201
Content Growth
2007-2014

15. What an absolutely
wonderful site. It is a
treasure trove of
information. Thank you!

16. I really appreciate your work.
The Biodiversity Heritage
Library is an excellent resource
that regularly helps my
assistant and I obtain original
descriptions for plants .... I feel
so privileged to be working in a
day in age when such
resources are so readily
available and easy to obtain.

17. May I compliment you on
this splendid service? The
Library's invaluable for my
work on seasonal variability
of climate and vector-borne
disease in British India,
1875-1940.

18. I am thrilled with what I have
been able to find re: archaic
mammary embryology some
of which I had been hoping to
find at the National Library of
Medicine, and to get it
through your program was a
huge advantage

20. User Statistics: 2007 - 2013
Visitors: 3,628,088
Page Views: 17,604,395
New vs. Returning: 50.06% vs. 49.04%
2007
2013
146,798 visitors | November 2012

21. 233 countriesUsers in 245 Countries

22. TheMachineIsUs/ingUs
<Response
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-
instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Status>ok</Status>
<Result>
<Item>
<ItemID>16800</ItemID>
<Volume/>
<Contributor>MBLWHOI Library</Contributor>
<Sponsor>MBLWHOI Library</Sponsor>
<Language>English</Language>
<LicenseUrl/>
<Rights/>
<DueDiligence/>
<CopyrightStatus/>
<CopyrightRegion/>
</Item>

23. • Secretariat and admin costs
• Technical development
• Central funds for scanning etc.
• Total:
– ~US$583,000 / year
• Smithsonian funding
• Grants to member institutions
• Annual dues (US$10,000)
from Members
• Donations (~US$5,000
year/average)
INCOME
EXPENSES
Funding Sources
Central Expenses

24. 2013 BHL Member In-kind Staff FTE & Costs (incomplete)
15.801 FTE from the 15 member institutions
$1,374,717 staff and other costs
(does not include Secretariat or Technical staff)

25. Fundraising Plans
Continue to build our pipeline of
annual donors
Continue to use social media for
“soft‫‏‬asks”‫‏‬repurposing‫‏‬text/themes‫‏‬
of appeals
Work‫‏‬with‫‏‬the‫‏‬Smithsonian’s‫‏‬Office‫‏‬
of Foundation Relations to put
together major gift ($100K-500K)
proposals to several foundations
Continue other grant opportunities
for partners

28. Awards
 2013 ComputerWorld Award
 2013 Council of Botanical and
Horticulture Libraries
 2011 Thackray Medal by the Society for
the History of Natural History
 2010 ALCTS award for outstanding
collaboration

29. Looking Forward
In any well-appointed
Natural History Library
there should be found
every book and every
edition of every book
dealing in the remotest
way with the subjects
concerned.
Charles Davies Sherborn
Epilogue to Index Animalium, March 1922

30. Web Services | Digital Library

31. Not just Biodiversity … The Cultural Heritage Library:
Over 5,000 items
The Catholic Sioux Herald (very fragile and unique)
Dibner Heralds of Science
Upcott scrapbook of Aeronautica & Aeronautical sheet music
Rare materials from the Cooper-Hewitt NDM Library
AnthroNotes
Smithsonian Budget Books & Congressional Hearings

32. SMITHSONIAN LIBRARIES CULTURAL HERITAGE LIBRARY

33. Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2012 2013 2014
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2012 2013 2014
Digitization is still increasing, too
37,283
total items digitized
130,375
total items digitized

35. SMITHSONIAN RESEARCH ONLINE (SRO)

40. Followership is GROWING!
7709
17754
5508
10784
TWITTER FACEBOOKFY2013
FY2012
⇧65%
growth
⇧40%
growth
AS OF TODAY…
20,411 followers on TWITTER
8,208 likes on FACEBOOK
12% GROWTH
FY2013

41. PAGEVIEWS, Oct 1 2012 to Present
198235
146764
FY2013FY2012
⇧35%
increase
Google featured Maria Sibylla
Merian as their Doodle.
Second result was the Libraries!
Pageview Growth on
blog.library.si.edu
More people are coming to our blog
AS OF TODAY…
12% GROWTH

42. Expanding into New Platforms
Created official
guidelines this
month
Officially
launched the
start of FY2013

43. While Gaining 30,000 New Followers
360
16983
20123
31756
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
First feature on
Radar: Gif
Featured
Blog

44. 18K
5.5K
2.9K
1.5K
4.8K
Radar = Exposure
5.2K
• Companies can $25,000 to be featured
• Tumblr curated & widely viewed
• We’ve been featured 8 times!

46. The worth and
importance of the
Institution is not to
be estimated by
what it accumulates
within the walls of its
building, but by what
it sends forth to the
world.
Joseph Henry, 1853

47. Thank you!