The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million livingspecies known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non-experts throughout the world.[1][2] It aims to build one "infinitely expandable" page for each species, including video, sound, images, graphics, as well as text.[3] In addition, the Encyclopedia incorporates content from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, which digitizes millions of pages of printed literature from the world's major natural historylibraries. The project was initially backed by a US$50 million funding commitment, led by the MacArthur Foundation and the Sloan Foundation, who provided US$20 million and US$5 million, respectively. The additional US$25 million came from five cornerstone institutions—the Field Museum, Harvard University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Smithsonian Institution. The project was initially led by Jim Edwards[4] and the development team by David Patterson. Today, participating institutions and individual donors continue to support EOL through financial contributions.[citation needed]
EOL went live on 26 February 2008 with 30,000 entries.[5] The site immediately proved to be extremely popular, and temporarily had to revert to demonstration pages for two days when over 11 million views of it were requested.
The site relaunched on 5 September 2011 with a redesigned interface and tools. The new version – referred to as EOLv2 – was developed in response to requests from the general public, citizen scientists, educators and professional biologists for a site that was more engaging, accessible and personal. EOLv2 is redesigned to enhance usability and encourage contributions and interactions among users. It is also internationalized with interfaces provided for English, German, Spanish, French, Galician, Serbian, Macedonian, Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Ukrainian language speakers. On 16 January 2014, EOL launched TraitBank, a searchable, open digital repository for organism traits, measurements, interactions and other facts for all taxa.[6]
Information about many species is already available from a variety of sources, in particular about the megafauna. Gathering currently available data on all 1.9 million species will take about 10 years.[8] As of September 2011[update], EOL had information on more than 700,000 species available, along with more than 600,000 photos and millions of pages of scanned literature. The initiative relies on indexing information compiled by other efforts, including the Sp2000 and ITISCatalogue of Life, Fishbase and the Assembling Tree of Life project of NSF, AmphibiaWeb, Mushroom explorer, microscope, etc. The initial focus has been on living species but will later include extinct species. As the discovery of new species is expected to continue (currently at about 20,000 per year), the encyclopedia will continue to grow. As taxonomy finds new ways to include species discovered by molecular techniques, the rate of new additions will increase, particularly in respect to the microbial work of (eu)bacteria, archaebacteria and viruses.[citation needed]EOL's goal is to serve as a resource for the general public, enthusiastic amateurs, educators, students and professional scientists from around the world.[2]
Resources and collaborations
The Encyclopedia of Life provides full provenance for information through citations from its trusted databases. Professional researchers publishing academic research should cite directly to the underlying data.[9] Users may not currently edit EOL's entries directly but may register for the site to join specialist expert communities to discuss relevant information, questions, possible corrections, sources, and potential updates, contribute images and sound, or volunteer for technical support services.[10] Its interface is translated at translatewiki.net.[clarification needed]
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The Encyclopedia of Life EOL is a free online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1 9 million living species known to science It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non experts throughout the world 1 2 It aims to build one infinitely expandable page for each species including video sound images graphics as well as text 3 In addition the Encyclopedia incorporates content from the Biodiversity Heritage Library which digitizes millions of pages of printed literature from the world s major natural history libraries The project was initially backed by a US 50 million funding commitment led by the MacArthur Foundation and the Sloan Foundation who provided US 20 million and US 5 million respectively The additional US 25 million came from five cornerstone institutions the Field Museum Harvard University the Marine Biological Laboratory the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution The project was initially led by Jim Edwards 4 and the development team by David Patterson Today participating institutions and individual donors continue to support EOL through financial contributions citation needed Encyclopedia of LifeType of siteEncyclopediaAvailable in19 languagesMalayGermanEnglishSpanishFrenchGalicianDutchNorsk bokmalOccitanBrazilian PortugueseSwedishTagalogMacedonianSerbianArabicChinese simplified and traditional KoreanTurkishCreated byField MuseumHarvard UniversityMacArthur FoundationMarine Biological LaboratoryMissouri Botanical GardenSloan FoundationSmithsonian InstitutionURLeol wbr orgCommercialNoRegistrationOptionalLaunchedFebruary 26 2008 14 years ago 2008 02 26 Current statusActive Contents 1 Overview 2 Intention 3 Resources and collaborations 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksOverview EditEOL went live on 26 February 2008 with 30 000 entries 5 The site immediately proved to be extremely popular and temporarily had to revert to demonstration pages for two days when over 11 million views of it were requested The site relaunched on 5 September 2011 with a redesigned interface and tools The new version referred to as EOLv2 was developed in response to requests from the general public citizen scientists educators and professional biologists for a site that was more engaging accessible and personal EOLv2 is redesigned to enhance usability and encourage contributions and interactions among users It is also internationalized with interfaces provided for English German Spanish French Galician Serbian Macedonian Arabic Chinese Korean and Ukrainian language speakers On 16 January 2014 EOL launched TraitBank a searchable open digital repository for organism traits measurements interactions and other facts for all taxa 6 The initiative s executive committee includes senior officers from the Atlas of Living Australia the Biodiversity Heritage Library consortium the Chinese Academy of Sciences CONABIO Field Museum Harvard University the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Library of Alexandria MacArthur Foundation Marine Biological Laboratory Missouri Botanical Garden Sloan Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution 7 Intention EditInformation about many species is already available from a variety of sources in particular about the megafauna Gathering currently available data on all 1 9 million species will take about 10 years 8 As of September 2011 update EOL had information on more than 700 000 species available along with more than 600 000 photos and millions of pages of scanned literature The initiative relies on indexing information compiled by other efforts including the Sp2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life Fishbase and the Assembling Tree of Life project of NSF AmphibiaWeb Mushroom explorer microscope etc The initial focus has been on living species but will later include extinct species As the discovery of new species is expected to continue currently at about 20 000 per year the encyclopedia will continue to grow As taxonomy finds new ways to include species discovered by molecular techniques the rate of new additions will increase particularly in respect to the microbial work of eu bacteria archaebacteria and viruses citation needed EOL s goal is to serve as a resource for the general public enthusiastic amateurs educators students and professional scientists from around the world 2 Resources and collaborations EditThe Encyclopedia of Life provides full provenance for information through citations from its trusted databases Professional researchers publishing academic research should cite directly to the underlying data 9 Users may not currently edit EOL s entries directly but may register for the site to join specialist expert communities to discuss relevant information questions possible corrections sources and potential updates contribute images and sound or volunteer for technical support services 10 Its interface is translated at translatewiki net clarification needed See also Edit Biology portal Evolutionary biology portalAll Species Foundation Biodiversity Heritage Library List of online encyclopedias Encyclopedia of Earth WikispeciesReferences Edit Encyclopedia of Life Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History naturalhistory si edu Retrieved 2021 11 19 a b EOL History Eol org 2012 02 28 Retrieved 2012 03 23 Odling Smee Lucy 2007 Encyclopedia of Life launched Nature doi 10 1038 news070508 7 S2CID 162249088 Retrieved 2007 05 09 James Edwards Encyclopedia of Life Eol org Retrieved 2015 11 21 Zimmer Carl 2008 02 26 The Encyclopedia of Life No Bookshelf Required The New York Times Retrieved 2008 02 27 TraitBank Practical semantics for organism attribute data Semantic web journal net 2014 03 28 Retrieved 2015 11 21 Scientists compile book of life BBC News 2007 05 09 Retrieved 2007 05 09 Encyclopedie de la vie Une arche de Noe virtuelle Radio Canada 9 May 2007 Retrieved 2009 05 12 Encyclopedia of Life eol org Retrieved 2021 11 19 Encyclopedia of Life eol org Retrieved 2021 11 19 External links Edit Wikidata has the property Encyclopedia of Life ID P830 see uses Wikinews has related news Scientists to bring all species together in Encyclopedia of Life Official website The Encyclopedia of Life Introductory video on YouTube from May 2007 Encyclopedia of Life at the National Museum of Natural HistoryPortal Science Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Encyclopedia of Life amp oldid 1130656219, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
