Unlocking the biodiversity heritage of Australia's regional field naturalists
Authors/Creators
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1.
Biodiversity Heritage Library
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2.
Atlas of Living Australia
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3.
Museums Victoria
Description
Presentation delivered at the SPNHC-TDWG Joint Conference in Okinawa, Japan, on Thursday 5 September 2024, as part of the Broadening Access, Community Science, Inclusion, Education and Outreach Symposioum.
Abstract (English)
In 2023, BHL Australia (the Australian branch of the Biodiversity Heritage Library) received two grants to gather the history of Australia’s regional field naturalist clubs and to share the invaluable contribution these community organisations have made to researching, recording and protecting their local biota across time.
The first, a Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) Local History Grant, is funding the digitisation of the legacy publications of these naturalist clubs and the creation of an online collection. The second, a Wikimedia Australia Partner Grant, is enabling the creation of Wikipedia pages and Wikidata records for the publications, people and species of particular significant to each organisation.
The publications of field naturalist clubs contain critical information about the flora and fauna of their specific region, which is essential to tracking changes in species distribution and abundance. Furthermore, these publications detail the rich history of the organisations themselves and the dedication and passion of the people behind them. They are a vital resource in efforts to promote and share the contributions of our historic natural historians. For some of these individuals (particularly those who were not white men), these publications contain the only published mention of their name (references required to meet Wikipedia’s Notability Guidelines).
While the global BHL project hosts an extensive repository of biodiversity knowledge, much of this material originates from large museums, herbaria and universities. Small community organisations are not well represented, either on BHL or elsewhere. Their publications are difficult to access, either in physical or digital form. By sourcing, digitising and making these publications available online, BHL Australia is bridging this gap, ensuring that the history and biodiversity knowledge of Australia's field naturalist clubs are freely accessible and discoverable to a global audience. This paper will share the progress, highlights and discoveries of this project thus far.