A New Version of the Encyclopedia of Life
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Providing nearly 700,000 species, 35 million pages of scanned literature and over 600,000 photos of living creatures, the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) has recently launched a new version of its free online system in response to requests from the general public, citizen scientists, educators and professional biologists around the world for a site that was more engaging, accessible and personal.
The BA has been a close partner in the project, working collaboratively with EOL on the internationalization of the system, providing the current version for English, Arabic and Spanish speakers. EOLv2 has been completely redesigned to enhance usability and encourage contributions and interactions among users. The BA is also endeavoring to create EOL in Arabic as a rich biodiversity resource for Arab scientists in the region.
The EOL in Arabic, not only comprises translated species from EOL into Arabic, but also entails adding species pertaining to the Arab world onto the EOL. Developing the EOL in Arabic significantly boosts up the scientific Arabic content on the Internet.
Founded in 2007, EOL seeks to increase awareness and understanding of living nature by gathering, generating and sharing knowledge in an open, freely accessible and trusted digital resource.
Over the last three years since its first public launch, EOL has grown dramatically to include trusted information on nearly 700,000 species sourced from over 160 content providers. EOL is supported by a community of over 700 curators responsible for reviewing and approving content, and by staff at contributing institutions around the world.