Preguntas frecuentes

GENERAL
IMPACT
AUDIENCE
TIMETABLE
CONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGY
HOW TO USE EOL
PARTICIPATION
FUNDING

General

What does Encyclopedia of Life seek to accomplish? What are its objectives?

The Encyclopedia will be an online reference and database on all 1.8 million species currently known to science and will stay current by capturing information on newly discovered and formally described species. The Encyclopedia of Life will help all of us better understand life on our planet.

Why now?

In recent years, we have witnessed a true alignment of the stars when it comes to a comprehensive catalog of Earth’s species. We have been able to secure generous philanthropic support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to move the project forward. We have been able to bring together the right organizations with expertise in biodiversity science and in software to work in partnership. E.O. Wilson’s poetic vision at his TED presentation in March 2007 and on other occasions has inspired interest in the broader public and user groups.

Why has this not previously been done?

The project is a major undertaking. To date, nowhere is there a comprehensive database of each and every species described. The sheer enormity of this work had previously made it “wishful thinking” for the scientific community at large. The crucial software tools to accomplish it, namely aggregation technology and collaborative systems for accumulating and editing content, have only demonstrated their effectiveness on a large scale in the last few years. What was once viewed by many as the impossible dream is now quite possible and is being undertaken.

Who is responsible for conceiving this project?

Many people have dreamed about having all information about species brought together in one place. In the 1990s, Chris Thompson (Smithsonian Institution) and Daniel Janzen (University of Pennsylvania and INBio, Costa Rica) were among the first to envision on-line species pages and several projects were started around the globe to develop such pages for limited groups of organisms. E.O. Wilson of Harvard University articulated the idea for an encyclopedia of all life in a widely read essay; published in 2003 and has been one of the leading proponents of the Encyclopedia of Life. Wilson’s contributions have been the inspiration for our current efforts. His letter about the Encyclopedia of Life in late 2005 to the MacArthur Foundation started the recent cascade of events.

What are the most significant obstacles you may face?

Our most significant obstacle is moving fast enough to accommodate stakeholder demand. People would like the Encyclopedia to exist today, but it will take three to five years before the site is likely to fulfill expectations. While it may take 10 years to have information on all 1.8 million known species, EOL will be a functional resource in a much shorter time period. The excitement for the project is incredible. We need to foster that enthusiasm by building a valuable, user-friendly tool for all audiences that is regularly updated with current information. We know expectations are high, and it is our responsibility to fulfill those expectations.

Another challenge is how to best honor intellectual property. The landscape of the Internet and its varied applications change very fast so we must be ever mindful of good and prudent practices.

How have audiences been accessing this information to date?

Currently, data and information can be found across the globe, in many scattered databases, books, and journals. Even smart searchers are often overwhelmed by lists of sites found by search engines or by lack of easy access to libraries, museums, and other storehouses of knowledge. There is currently no single place where consumers of information can turn to for scientifically authenticated information about every known species on Earth. Encyclopedia of Life will provide this “one-stop shopping”.

What can users expect to get from EOL now? What can they expect to get in the future?

EOL’s initial release of species sites in February 2008 includes individualized pages for more than 1,000,000 species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Only subsets of these pages, however, are comprehensive in terms of content.

There are four kinds of pages in the initial release:

About 25 exemplar species pages contain a wide array of information. These pages offer a glimpse into how rich EOL will become. Exemplar pages have been authenticated (endorsed) by scientists who are experts on these species.
Tens of thousands of additional species pages are available, focusing on a small number of taxonomic groups for which EOL has developed partnerships with stewards of publicly available information. These pages are also authenticated by scientists, but they do not yet contain the rich array of information found on the exemplar pages.
About one million minimal species pages contain limited content—in most cases, just the species’ scientific and common names, limited information about its taxonomic position and distribution, and links to other sources of information. These minimal species pages are, in effect, placeholders for richer pages that will be added as EOL recruits taxonomic specialists to validate and edit content, establishes formal agreements with additional data partners that can provide relevant content, and generates additional content via the Biodiversity Heritage Library, other Web-based resources, and contributions from individual scientists and citizen-scientists.
Finally, thousands of linking pages represent higher levels of classification (genus, family, etc.). These pages help users traverse the taxonomic hierarchy. For example, a user trying to identify a picture of an organism she photographed on a snorkeling trip might start at Chordates, then go to Cartilaginous Fishes, then to Rays, and so on, until finally reaching the species page for the Giant Manta.

At the same time as EOL species pages are released, other important EOL activities are proceeding behind the scenes. The Biodiversity Heritage Library has already digitized more than 2 million pages of the professional taxonomic literature, much of which is available for free from the BHL website. Eventually, BHL hopes to process up to 30 million pages. The Education and Outreach (E&O) working group is developing educational and citizen-science activities to be released next year that incorporate EOL species pages. Finally, the Biodiversity Synthesis Center has recently released a Request for Proposals for workshops to advance biodiversity-related research and application.

What is a species page?

All EOL species pages provide information via a consistently structured template. Thus, once you have learned how to navigate one page you will know how to navigate all pages. Material on a species page has been authenticated (endorsed) by scientists who are experts on that species. Species pages will become richer as more information is authenticated and added.

I see many pages that don't have as much information. Can I contribute to these?

There are many species for which we do not yet have high quality images or text. Please think of these pages as invitations to contribute to EOL. In the future we would be delighted to have you contribute text, videos, images, and other information--which you will be able to do later in 2008. We also seek your comments on any item in EOL. To send us a comment, or to volunteer to be a curator for a page or to contribute data in the future, use the Feedback menu at the top of every screen, or the Comment button at the bottom of the page.

What are the components of the EOL project?

EOL uses the word “component” to refer to the five subprojects that together make up the Encyclopedia of Life. These are the Species Sites Group, the Biodiversity Informatics Group, the Scanning and Digitization Group, the Education and Outreach Group, and the Biodiversity Synthesis Group.

The Species Sites Group works with the scientific community and other contributors to bring together the content needed for the species pages and to authenticate it. The information on the species pages is derived from a large number of different data partners around the globe. The group recruits diverse data partners and works with the scientific community to engage experts who act as “curators” to ensure information on species pages is correct and current. In addition, the group is implementing a robust intellectual property regime that ensures open access to Encyclopedia materials. Finally, the team is working to develop specialized portals for different audiences.

The Biodiversity Informatics Group is creating the software to establish a single portal to reach information on all 1.8 million known species scattered in diverse websites all over the world. The infrastructure is seamlessly aggregating data from thousands of sites into species pages in the Encyclopedia using novel informatics tools to capture, organize, and reshape knowledge about biodiversity. The group collaborates with data partners, and then the information is indexed and recombined for expert and non-expert users alike using aggregation technology to bring together different data elements from remote sites. In 2008 a WorkBench suite of tools and services will be deployed to index, organize, and associate data elements or create new elements.

The Scanning and Digitization Group is led by the Biodiversity Heritage Library, a consortium of 10 natural history and botanical libraries, who are digitizing the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections and making it available as part of an open biodiversity commons. This digitized literature is of value to a wide range of scientists as well as many others. For example, individuals in developing countries and citizen scientists who lack affiliation with major research institutions will now be able to search, read, download, and print literature that was previously unavailable to them. Artists can use the detailed illustrations in many taxonomic works as motifs or design concepts in their work, whether on canvas, paper, or digitally. Educators guiding students in how to conduct biological research will have a wealth of examples to incorporate into lesson plans and assignments. The BHL Portal, which is linked to EOL species pages, is available at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ .

The overall goals of the Education and Outreach Group are to ensure widespread, global awareness of EOL and to explore and promote new and exciting uses of this extraordinary resource. To achieve this goal, the Education and Outreach Group strives to make EOL relevant, usable and interesting to a broad range of international audiences. In addition to providing a useful resource about biodiversity for educators, citizen scientists, and others, in the future Education and Outreach will encourage participation from interested parties by providing them tools to organize and serve their own observations, media, and data about the species they study.

The Biodiversity Synthesis Group (BioSynC) aims to find new ways in which scientists, conservationists, academics, and educators can take advantage of the rich information being provided by EOL. It supports the growth and use of EOL by facilitating cross-disciplinary involvement of the scientific and academic community and by contributing to educational and conservation uses of EOL. There are many pressing questions yet to be answered in all fields of biology. Human population growth, global climate change, and other environmental crises heighten the urgency with which we must discover, understand, and preserve biodiversity. To help answer these questions, BioSynC supports working group meetings to explore integrative topics in biodiversity, such as taxonomy, biogeography, phylogenetics, and bioinformatics.

Impact

What impact will EOL have on science?: The Encyclopedia of Life should be one of the most significant developments we have ever experienced in the life sciences. It can be a macroscope comparable in power for discerning patterns in large amounts of information just as the microscope is for zooming to the small. Just as the biotechnology industry has been built upon the existence of large genomic sequence databases (such as GenBank), Encyclopedia of Life will have an equally catalytic effect on comparative biology, ecology, and related fields. By harnessing the research, commitment, and hard work of scientists across the world, the Encyclopedia will serve as a truly global resource for information regarding life on this planet. Such a comprehensive resource of information has never been available to the scientific community or society at large.
What impact will EOL have on society?: In addition to helping catalyze new scientific discoveries and providing information of great value for solving problems important to society, EOL will also have significant social impact. For the first time in history, the Biodiversity Heritage Library component of EOL is making digitally available millions of pages of biological information previously only accessible in texts in a few institutions in the Northern Hemisphere. Now, no one will have to travel to these libraries to gain access to this information. The information found on EOL is free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. This removes both price barriers and permission barriers. This combination of access to primary texts and literature and the ability to use it freely allows unprecedented numbers of individuals the ability to participate locally in the global effort to catalogue new species and protect existing biodiversity.

Audience

Is EOL just for the scientific community?: No. The Encyclopedia of Life is being developed to serve as a comprehensive, global resource for anyone interested in Earth’s species. EOL offerings are developed and used by scientists, teachers, students, media, environmental managers, families, artists and any other interested parties. EOL will be made available in a wide range of languages. EOL is intended to be a valuable learning, teaching and reference resource for anyone who has an interest in biological species. EOL provides society at large a tool unequaled in scope and convenience for use by policy makers, educators, and the general public.
How will scientists use EOL?: In a myriad of ways. Many kinds of scientists will use EOL to find the currently recognized scientific names of the species they are studying. Ecologists will use EOL to help understand interactions of the species in an ecosystem. Taxonomists will use EOL as a resource for describing new species. Molecular biologists studying aging are already starting to enter data about longevity into EOL, so that they can use it to find animals that have longer or shorter life spans than their sister species. In fact, the authenticated nature of data in EOL means that potential uses for EOL are only limited by the imaginations of its users.
How will students and educators use EOL?: EOL allows a student or teacher to browse the entire living world in a dynamic Web environment. The site will provide a place where they can learn about every species that populates the planet. This one Web site unites mammal, bird, bug, plant, bacteria, etc. in one location, providing in-depth, scientifically valid information of individual species as well as developing a clear understanding of how ecosystems work and change over time and under different conditions. Students and educators will be provided with a wide variety of tools for using the information on the species pages as well as for feeding their own information back into the system. Because it exists on the Web, EOL also allows collaborative, inquiry-based learning to occur within a classroom or across the world.
How will the public at large use EOL?: Members of the public will be able to use EOL in many different ways. In the near future, anyone will be able to personalize information on the EOL website for their own interests and uses. For example, one could create a field guide for a family vacation or for a day hike to a new location, which could then be downloaded to a personal digital assistant for easy access and information retrieval. It could be used to keep a catalogue of all the plants that might be found in one’s neighborhood.
In recent years, we have witnessed the impact that a website like Wikipedia can have on humanity, providing a common location for information on all things great and small. The Encyclopedia of Life has the potential to be a similar phenomenon, serving as a catalog, database, and learning tool about every organism that has ever lived on the planet. In the same way that dictionaries help literacy, the Encyclopedia can help biodiversity literacy.

Timetable

How long will this project take?: We estimate that it will take about ten years to prepare the basic information on the currently known species, to digitize the literature in the BHL member libraries, and to set up a robust process whereby new species are incorporated as they are described. However, EOL will never be complete. We will always be discovering new things about species, and EOL will incorporate that new information.
When will all the species pages be ready? Why will they come out in stages?: Within ten years we expect to have at least partially populated species pages for all 1.8 million currently known species. The reasons it will take so long are two-fold. First, there is currently not a complete list of all known species—1.8 million is an estimate. EOL is working with its data partners to compile the first-ever complete list of known species. Second, we know very little about a large number of species. Many of them are only known from their type specimens and a short description in the literature. Finding the literature about these species and incorporating it into EOL is a considerable hurdle.
Species pages are being added to EOL as various taxonomic communities reach the stage where there is consensus on the correct species names and scientists are recruited to assemble and authenticate the pages. Some taxonomic groups already have well-developed compilations of species pages (e.g. FishBase, AmphibiaWeb), and these are likely to be the first to be incorporated into EOL.

Construction

Who is ultimately responsible for constructing the Encyclopedia of Life?: The Encyclopedia of Life is a collaborative effort. Ultimately, tens of thousands of people with expertise around the world and their predecessors are responsible. In terms of practical accountability, efforts are currently being headed by a Steering Committee of senior individuals from Harvard University, Smithsonian Institution, Field Museum, Marine Biological Laboratory, Biodiversity Heritage Library consortium, Missouri Botanical Garden, and the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations. Numerous organizations have already contributed to the conceptualization and development of the Encyclopedia.
In addition, two advisory groups are helping to devise the project. The Institutional Council contains more than 25 institutions from around the world; it provides a global perspective and outreach to EOL. The Distinguished Advisory Board consists of 13 global leaders from the scientific and policy communities.
Who is doing the writing?: Unlike conventional encyclopedias, where an editorial team sits down and compiles the entries, the Encyclopedia of Life is being developed by assembling content from a wide variety of digital sources. This material is then authenticated by scientists, so that users will have authoritative information. As we progress, EOL will work with scientists across the globe, securing the involvement of those individuals and institutions that are established experts on each species.
How do you ensure that the information on the EOL stays current?: The technology we use allows us to confirm what each data partner has on a daily basis and to thereby incorporate any updates that those partners have implemented. In addition, in the future EOL intends to incorporate an RSS feed mechanism that provides links to the most recent scientific literature.
Who is verifying data on the individual species pages and how does this work?: Data on individual species pages is verified by competent scientists who have volunteered their time. EOL is developing a WorkBench tool to facilitate this process and to allow groups of individuals to work simultaneously on authenticated information to be included in the species pages.
What are you doing to ensure functionality in different languages/cultures?: A primary goal is to ensure that the content on the Encyclopedia is available in a wide variety of languages so it can be accessed and used in communities across the planet. This is a global resource, and the ever-evolving product will express that. The Encyclopedia is working with individuals and organizations around the globe to translate the content into local languages. Also, a great benefit of standard formats for Web pages is that it makes them easier to understand. We put a premium on good visualization, so that even those who may not comprehend foreign text can still extract a significant amount of information. Finally, we are designing the content in ways that it can be accessed usefully on handheld devices as well as on desktop screens.
Will everyone be able to use the images and text on the pages? Is it free?: EOL will always be free to access. There may be restrictions, however, on how you may re-use text or graphics. All content provided through EOL is either in the public domain or is served under a Creative Commons License (see http://creativecommons.org/). If there are any limitations on re-use of these materials, those limitations are indicated immediately adjacent to the material so affected. In most cases, material available through EOL can be freely used by anyone, although in some instances you will need to contact the data partner if you wish to re-use the material for commercial purposes. Please be sure to understand and comply with any limitations made by the data partners.

Technology

What software is being used to build the EOL site and its various functions?: We use existing software and also develop our own to deal with some rather unusual problems with information about species--most significantly that most species have more than one name. Currently we use a combination of Ruby on Rails, PHP, MySQL, and Fedora Commons. Our software is modular, often with Web services linking the modules together. We use open-source software tools and any software we develop will be placed in an open-source environment to allow other developers to participate in EOL. We will continue to adopt new technologies, to promote a shift towards the semantic Web, and to welcome new ideas and new partnerships.
Where does the EOL website originate?: The EOL website and portal are assembled and served from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA. This is the home of the Biodiversity Informatics Group, which is also responsible for the technical infrastructure of EOL. The initial version of EOL is delivered from a custom-built environment with high-end servers that have been especially configured to meet the expected demand. EOL aggregates data that come from many data partners. We keep a local copy of some data but in other cases information is being drawn dynamically from a remote source and is integrated with the remaining content.
What precautions have been taken to protect data against power outages, viruses, hackers, etc?: Our servers are protected by generator systems and a battery-based safety net. They connect to the Internet by two high-speed fiber-optic cables that serve the scientific institutions in Woods Hole. A slower conventional connection backs up the fibers. In due course, EOL will be delivered through mirror sites. Within the server environment, clusters of computers work co-operatively, checking on the fidelity of data and providing fault tolerance. Good data management, time-stamping, and retention of backup copies of all data allow us to roll back the system to what was available before a cataclysmic breakdown-should that happen.
How are you organizing the information that makes up the species pages?: All components of pages, such as images and text, are ‘data objects’. We index these and record what subject and species each item relates to. This allows us to place the information in the right place on the right page. We deal with vast amounts of information--the Biodiversity Heritage Library alone may provide as many as half a billion pages of information--but the simplicity of our approach makes it relatively easy to contribute to the Encyclopedia of Life.
What Web services are available?: Web services will allow others to access information in EOL and use it in a way that meets their needs. We use a service-oriented architecture and are preparing EOL to join the semantic Web; therefore, we will provide Web services at all levels. This allows other developers to create their own views of EOL and to manipulate data in interesting and innovative ways. These Web services will start to appear in 2008. If you have recommendations for specific services, please do let us know via the “Contact Us” page and select “Technical” in the drop down menu, or just click here.
How will the next version of EOL differ from the present version?: The version of the EOL—released February 28, 2008—is a proof of concept. We are using it to solicit guidance and feedback that will influence the design of the next rendition. We expect to release this next version in the third or fourth quarter of 2008, and to include the WorkBench for contributions, additional data sources, and embedded semantic information.

How to use EOL

How do I search for a species?: There are many different ways to find information on species. One way is simply to type a common name or scientific name into the Find box at the top of any page. At this time, the search is literal and finds only exact matches, although this will be extended in subsequent releases. Other ways to find information are to browse through the text or graphical version of the classification visible on every species or linking page, or to click the assortment of images that appear on the home page. We are also working to build new ways to view the overall tree of life.
I don’t know what to look for, how can I browse EOL?: We recommend that you use the classification in the upper right of each species or higher taxon page (those that show a higher level grouping of species, for example the group of mammals or fungi). As an alternative, there are several collections of species on the EOL home page, as well as a scrolling row of hyperlinked images. You can also use the Feedback menu at the top of the page to go to the EOL Forum to ask other users about where particular kinds of organisms are found.
Why can’t I find a specific species?: An EOL species search looks for the name of the species within a classification that has been assembled by the Catalogue of Life Partnership. A remarkable fact is that a complete list of all species does not exist. The Catalogue of Life is trying to correct this, but so far only has about a million species – a little more than half of the number that we think have been described. If you have mistyped the name or used a name that is different from that in the Catalogue of Life, your search will not produce a result. As EOL progresses, we will greatly expand the number of species that are covered and add new services, such as providing you with alternatives to what you entered, so this problem should diminish.
What are the different settings on the pages? How can I change them?: We are designing the Encyclopedia of Life so that it can be adapted to meet your needs. For example, along the top menu bar there is a language choice. Eventually, this will change the navigational terms into the language of your choosing and will give priority to any content in your preferred language, although the current version of EOL has only English or French. If you find that the items are too hard to understand (or too simple), you can choose the level of detail you would like to see using the slider below the pictures; the same slider will switch the names in the Classification area between common names and scientific names.
How can I register with EOL?: The top banner on all pages has a link that directs you to the registration page. We recommend you register if you wish to receive any information in the future or wish to ensure that your preferences are maintained between visits.
What is the EOL Forum and how can I participate?: The EOL Forum is an environment where you can discuss issues about life on Earth and where you can influence the development of the Encyclopedia. You access the Forum through the Feedback menu at the top of the page or directly at http://forum.eol.org. Registration is not required to post a question or a comment, but if you wish to receive timely feedback or if you wish to track responses to your posts we recommend that you create an account in the forum. We often browse posts and are always interested to hear from you.
Where is the EOL blog and what can I read there?: The official EOL blog is accessible through the Feedback menu on the top of the page or directly at http://blog.eol.org. Members of the EOL team periodically post articles about our challenges and milestones. You can offer feedback on any of these articles by writing a reply.

Participation

How can I contribute my photos, images, and text to EOL?

In the future, EOL will be an environment where you will be able to add images, descriptions or sighting reports. We do not have the tools available to do that just yet because we have been working hard to design the skeletal structure of EOL. However, by the middle of 2008 you should expect to see a mechanism whereby you can submit information to the site. Expert users with structured data sources or large collections should use the “Contact Us” link and select “Contributions” in the drop down menu, or just click here.

When will I be able to contribute material to EOL?

Immediately after the launch in February we will identify those aspects of the Encyclopedia of Life that users wish to see us develop. We expect that the addition of images and sighting reports from users will be high on this list, and the WorkBench tool to assist with this will be a high priority. We recommend that you create an account to keep abreast with new features and news items.

Will the information I provide be verified before it is uploaded to the Web?

We intend to accept any information that you have. The information will be placed in a special database and will be associated with the most relevant species. The scientists who curate a species page will examine the material submitted and will be able to move that information onto the authenticated species page. When we develop this database later in 2008, we expect that material submitted by the general public will be made visible to anyone.

I am a scientist; how can I play a part in EOL?

The success and utility of EOL relies critically on the contributions and meaningful involvement of the professional scientific community. The most obvious ways in which individual scientists can contribute to EOL include:

Volunteering to become a “curator” of one or more EOL species pages, helping to validate information, and editing scientific content and external links that are displayed for a given species
Uploading content that is otherwise unavailable (at least in digital form) for display on a given species page
Developing educational activities (e.g., lesson plans, lab exercises, field trip activities) that incorporate EOL content
Contributing functionality through open source software repositories
Proposing a workshop or other activity for possible sponsorship by EOL’s Biodiversity Synthesis Center; or
Suggesting books and journals for scanning by the Biodiversity Heritage Library and, where necessary, help BHL to secure permission for scanning and distribution from the copyright holder.

I am not a scientist but I love science, what can I do for EOL?

EOL will offer many opportunities for meaningful involvement by, and contributions from, people from all walks of life who just love science and want to do more of it. In the future, activities for citizen scientists will range from something as simple as uploading a digital photograph of an insect that you found on your front porch to submitting the results of a local biodiversity inventory (“bioblitz”) involving hundreds of schoolchildren that you helped organize for your local school district. Wherever possible, EOL will identify and credit the sources of data it will ultimately share.

Can I work for EOL?

If you are interested in employment opportunities with EOL, please visit the Employment website.

Funding

Who is paying for the project?: Funds to get the EOL project started have been generously provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation . The EOL cornerstone institutions have also agreed to raise additional funds.
What roles do these funders have in the process?: Representatives from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation participate in the EOL Steering Committee as ex officio members.
How can I contribute financially to EOL?: There are several ways you can help EOL financially. You can donate directly to the EOL, or contribute through one of the cornerstone institutions (currently The Field Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, Marine Biological Laboratory, Missouri Botanical Garden, and Smithsonian Institution). Or you can Contact Us to send us a message concerning your contribution.
How is money allocated within EOL?: The EOL Steering Committee, composed of representatives from the cornerstone institutions and the foundation funders, makes all decisions about funding.
How much money will it take to keep EOL sustainable for future generations?: We are still researching this question, but comparison with other large databases suggest that the steady-state costs of maintaining EOL, including data maintenance and incorporating new information, will cost between $5 and 10 million per year (that is, less than $6 per species per year).