Jen HammockSpecies Pages GroupSmithsonian Institution

Sea Education AssociationTools training Nov. 22, 2010

Imagine an electronic page for each species of organism on Earth.

-Edward O. Wilson

EOL’sGuiding Principles

• Freely accessible: open access, open source

• Available from a single portal in a common format

• Quality• Always growing as new

species are discovered and new knowledge is generated

Goals• Unprecedented global collaboration of novices and experts• Combining scientific credibility with public enthusiasm

• Topics that influence our world• More than just a scientific project—a new social

phenomenon• Provide value for several audiences

• Scientists• Educators• Policymakers

• Citizens

Typical species pageTypical species page

Objects can come from many partnersObjects are sorted by topicEach partner gets credit

Objects can come from many partnersObjects are sorted by topicEach partner gets credit

Overview Introduction

Description Physical Description Molecular BarcodeLife History Identification Original Description Physiology

Evolution and Systematics Classification Paleontology PhylogenyNomenclatural history

Ecology and Distribution Geographic Distribution Habitat Niche Ecosystem Role

Conservation Relevance ToxicityEthnobotany How to Grow

Example of detailed table of contentsExample of detailed table of contents

Maps from global museum and observation data

Links to digital literature

Links to external pages

Statistics

• 2,801,697 taxon pages, including families, genera, etc.

• 117 content partners providing 2,025,592 data objects (images, text, maps)

• 396,783 pages with vetted objects

• 621 curators

• 940,728 pages with links to literature

• 1,789,138 pages with links to other projects

EOL Content trajectory

Pages

Date

EOL curators

Let’s visit some partners and tools!

• http://www.marinespecies.org/

• http://morphbank.net/

• http://iobis.org/mapper/

• http://www.flickr.com/groups/encyclopedia_of_life

• http://nemertea.lifedesks.org

• http://neotropicalfishes.lifedesks.org

• http://eolinterns.lifedesks.org/