Encyclopedia of Life (EOL.org)
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
5 September 2011
Glasswing butterfly - Credit- Kibuyu
Landmark global online collaboration now offers trusted information on 700,000+ species, 35 million+ pages of scanned literature, 600,000+ photos and videos
The second edition of the free, online collaborative Encyclopedia of Life debuts today with a redesign and new features making it easier to use, to personalize, and to interact with fellow enthusiasts worldwide. It is also vastly expanded, offering information on more than one-third of all known species on Earth.
The new interface makes it easy for users to find organisms of interest; to create personal collections of photos and information; to find or upload pictures, videos and sounds; and to share comments, questions and expertise with users worldwide who share similar interests.
EOLv2 offers more than 20 times as many pages with content than the EOL.org launched 30 months ago — up from the original 30,000 pages in February 2008 to 700,000 today. The global partnership of 176 content providers behind EOL.org is progressing towards an aspiration of 1.9 million pages — one for every species known to science.
It also now contains more than 600,000 still images and videos — 20 times the number available in August 2009. EOL photos are also showcased online at www.flickr.com/groups/encyclopedia_of_life.
Full news release text, click here
Sample coverage by The Guardian, click here, by Reuters, click here