A catalyst to BHL’s internal technical evolution has been hastened by increasing urgent calls from the scientific community which now predict dire changes for all life on Earth by 2035. BHL’s commitments to the Biodiversity Commons and all of humanity require that BHL unlock 60+ million pages of data from the 15th-21st centuries and make it actionable as soon as possible. As a result, BHL’s data management strategies are evolving to embrace automation, crowdsourcing, and the semantic web. The Wikimedia project ecosystem acts as a global information broker and collaboratively edited knowledge graph that facilitates the semantic enrichment and rapid dissemination of data present in the BHL corpus. The BHL-WIKI working group members are dedicated to converting BHL’s legacy data into a computationally usable resource and expanding global access to biodiversity knowledge for all.
Working group members possess a diverse range of expertise in user experience, semantic ontologies, Media Wiki platforms, GLAM database repository systems, and data modeling, curation and standards. Goals of this group outlined below, align with 25 formal recommendations from the BHL White paper entitled Unifying Biodiversity Knowledge to Support Life on a Sustainable Planet, the BHL Strategic Plan 2020-26 Implementation and Wikimedia's Movement Strategy Initiatives.
Maximizing the Accessibility and Interoperability of Biodiversity Data through Semantic Web Integration and 5-star open data, FAIR, and CARE Data Principles Implement and advocate for the integration of semantic web technologies at our home institutions and adherence to 5-star open data, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), and CARE data principles, aligning with BHL Goal 1.4. Ensure biodiversity data in BHL is easily discoverable, accessible, and interoperable for researchers globally, supporting BHL Goal 1.3. Collaborate with biodiversity and climate action projects from all over the world, integrating insights from diverse global communities, to promote the adoption of semantic web standards and foster partnerships, with a focus on inclusion of diverse perspectives, marginalized voices, and integration of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK); in line with BHL Goal 4 and Wikimedia Initiative 3.
Advancing Data Modeling Work to Support Global Challenges Develop and document data models that enable novel querying and extraction of meaningful information for studies and research addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, contributing to Wikimedia's Initiatives 6, 8, and 43. Identify and curate data in BHL and other biodiversity data systems to directly support global sustainability challenges, aligning with BHL Goal 1.4 and supporting Wikimedia's Initiatives 6, 8. Work with international taxonomic initiatives towards the harmonization of disparate data models, fostering data linkages between BHL and the Wikimedia ecosystem, GBIF, Global Names, Catalogue of Life, WoRMS and other international research initiatives to address global scientific challenges, aligning with Wikimedia's Initiatives 3, 6, 8, 22, 43 and BHL Goal 4.2.
Strengthening User Experience, Engagement, and Global Partnerships Actively engage with other international biodiversity projects and initiatives to bolster the biodiversity infrastructure and build sustainable partnerships, aligning with BHL Goal 4.1, 5 and supporting Wikimedia's Initiatives 6, 8, 29, and 30. Participate in relevant international conferences, meetings, and events related to Wikimedia, GLAMs, semantic web, biodiversity and climate, contributing to BHL Goal 4.3 and Wikimedia Initiative 8. Develop user engagement and data literacy strategies that involve the global community in contributing to biodiversity knowledge and conservation efforts, contributing to BHL Goal 3.1 and supporting Wikimedia's Initiatives 3, 6, 8, 30, and 32, 36.