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A yellowed page of a medieval text

📔 Explore BHL’s newest oldest item!

In our #BHLat20 series, we’re highlighting Circa Instans (c. 1190), now the oldest work in BHL, predating the previous oldest item by 300 years.

From the @nybg.bsky.social’s Mertz Library, now online: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/04/circ...

Close up with a beautiful nudibranch on a rocky reef. The lower half of the image is a palette of swatches made from the nudi's vibrant colours.

Once upon a time I just admired nudis and sea slugs.

But it was not enough. Now apparently I'm creating an R package to celebrate their colour palettes? 😅

First up, my Sydney fave, Hypselodoris bennetti.

#rstats #nudibranch #dataviz 🦑🐙🧪 #marinelife #invertebrates

Yeah, because being healthy is totally woke. Nothing says military readiness like being under qualified, under resourced, and ill to boot.

Title side for the event

Picture of speakers and facilitator

It’s time for the 8th Annual Solving the World’s Challenges at the Funk Library @illinoisfunk.bsky.social

@maralina.bsky.social

An historic illustration of a white bat hanging upside down from a tree branch.

🦇 Happy #BatAppreciationDay! The ghost bat (Macroderma gigas), native to Australia, gets its name from its extremely thin wing membrane, which gives it a ghostly appearance at night. #SciArt: Proc Zool Soc London (1880) on BHL via @nhm-london.bsky.social: www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28522650

A page of beetle specimens with the details of BHL Day 2026 overlaid.

How do scientists use biodiversity literature?

At #BHLDay2026, Lauren Hughes, Principal Curator In Charge @nhm-london.bsky.social, will explore how BHL is the bridge between taxonomy @marinespecies.bsky.social & the evidence behind it.

📅 29 April: London + online
🎟️ Register now: bit.ly/bhlday2026

The State of AMERICA’S LIBRARIES: a Snapshot of 2025. FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF READERS. FOR THE CORNERSTONES OF OUR COMMUNITIES. FOR ACCESS TO INFORMATION FOR ALL. FOR THE FREEDOM TO READ. FOR THE PEOPLE WHO POWER POSSIBILITY. FOR THE FUTURE OF LEARNING. FOR OUR LIBRARIES. ALA150 American Library Association

From threats to (and victories for) intellectual freedom, to increasing services for incarcerated people, to a whirlwind of legislative and legal battles, 2025 proved pivotal for our nation's libraries.

Read more in our State of America's Libraries Report: A Snapshot of 2025: https://bit.ly/3ORpvpE

Pictures of game cards and pieces

Pictures of game cards and pieces

My (12 year old) nephew created his own #Betrayal game expansion, for Supernatural, it is awesome! The only account I can find to tag is 🪽 @mishacollins.bsky.social

If you look closely you will see my dog Zero! 🐾 #nationallibraryweek #nationalpetday

On April 21, we'll be hosting our annual panel focused on Invasive Species! If you attend in-person, you'll be entered into a raffle to win Invaders of the Great Lakes or The Book of Invasive Species! To learn about the panel or register to attend online visit go.library.illinois.edu/FunkACESLibr...

A new office cat joined this week. Steve is doing the onboarding. Steve loves cats.

The wrong question is dominating the energy crisis debate.

Every interview starts the same: where do we find replacement fossil fuels and what happens to prices?

In this BBC interview I push back.

This is the moment to talk about escaping fossil fuel dependence - not the daily market noise.

Unfortunately every time we are offered a moment in time, the minute oil prices drop everyone moves on, and innovation has happened in those moments! We have to keep the attention on the alternatives, and battle the noise.

EFF Screenshot: "EFF is Leaving X By Kenyatta ThomasApril 9, 2026 art rendering with a blue backdrop with a white bird that resembles the Twitter logo with an X where"

"To put it bluntly, an X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago."

The real world outside DC's elite bubble know the deal: Elon's fascist funhouse is basically an ugly, diminished, toxic shell of Twitter's former self. www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

A Brief Bit on BHL Battling a Barrage of Bots Over the past year, BHL has been forced to contend with the issue of AI Bot (short for robot) Crawlers and the effect of their unreasonable requests for BHL’s content. I say unreasonable because wh…

Follow along in the dramatic saga of
@biodivlibrary.bsky.social BHL's Battle of the Bots and how the Technical Team is leveraging tools to prevent site disruption!

I-L-L!! 🏀

An historic illustration of two brown birds sitting on a leafy green branch.

Want more from BHL? 🌱 📚 🧪 🌏
Join 10,000+ subscribers and get stories, discoveries, and collection highlights delivered to your inbox.
A new issue is coming soon.

Subscribe: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/YKrBfqY/B...

Recent Publication: "Data Born in Literature: The @biodivlibrary.bsky.social – A Global Digital Library Serving the Planet" (2025) / Learn more at bit.ly/4bmezYD

Presentation

At the Botanic Garden

Natural History Museum

National Library Board

Looking back at the 2017 @biodivlibrary.bsky.social meetings in Singapore / bit.ly/4dlEJNu

Stop worrying about what YA books to let your kids read and let them sort it out with V C Andrews and cocaine era Stephen King as God intended

An historic illustration of two butterflies and a hairy caterpillar. There are green leaves and white flowers in the background.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is turning 20! 🎉

We’re starting celebrations with a special anniversary blog series #BHLat20: Treasures from BHL, featuring remarkable works chosen by the people who know them best: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/03/cele... #ILoveBHL

Come to our panel at Funk Library, south side of campus directly behind the Animal Science Building #Illinois!

An historic black and white illustration of a paper nautilus floating on the ocean. There are boats, a city and hills in the background.

🎉 Huge news for BHL: The Field Museum is taking over the hosting of BHL’s website, servers & infrastructure, ensuring long-term stability and access for its 63+ million pages of open biodiversity literature. Learn more:
blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/02/tran...
#BHLTransition #ILoveBHL 🌍 📚 🧪

This story is bizarre and I feel like we're not seeing quite enough concern over the president just randomly spouting nonsense like this in the middle of the night. Our two hospital ships are in dry dock right now in Alabama. This seems like utter nonsense, and wholly out of nowhere.

I love almond butter and lingonberry sandwiches!

Display case, featuring pinned bugs, books, and DVDs about insect-human hybrids.

Insect Fear Film Festival logo, featuring a human face superimposed onto the back of a bug.

We're celebrating the Insect Fear Film Festival with the Entomology Graduate Student Association! Visit our exhibit showing media about insect-human hybrids and showing real insect hybrids! #IFFF43

To learn about the Festival, visit publish.illinois.edu/uiuc-egsa/if...
@prairieresearch.bsky.social