UK biologists and scientists are joining experts from all over the world to build an online Encyclopaedia of Life (EoL), recording material on every known species on the planet.

　　The owl is one of the species which will make up the Encyclopaedia of Life

　　When it is complete, in about 10 years time, it will detail all the 1.8 million animals, plants and other forms of life known to man.

　　Accessible to all

　　A huge database will be at the centre of what the organisers call "an ecosystem of websites which makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world".

　　The goal, they say, "is to create a constantly evolving encyclopaedia that lives on the internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike".

　　Translating into local languages

　　To make it even more accessible, EoL will be working with people and organisations across the globe to translate the content into local languages.

　　International consortium

　　The Natural History Museum in London and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are part of an international consortium of leading scientific institutions creating this online resource.

　　When it is complete it will be used to help policy-makers, scientists, teachers, student and others to better understand planet earth and all who inhabit it.

　　Photographs, video and sound

　　Each species will have its own page which will include photographs, video, audio clips and maps, collected and written by experts.

　　The vast database will initially concentrate on animals, plants and fungi, with microbes to follow. Fossil species may eventually be added.

　　Over ?30 million in grants

　　The main partners are the US Field Museum, Harvard University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Over ?30 million in grants from charitable foundations and academic institutions have been pledged to the project so far.

　　Grizzly bear: signing him up for the Enyclopaedia of Life

　　Building an internet repository

　　James Edwards, the newly-appointed director of EoL which is coordinating the work, says that "over the next 10 years it will build a repository of information on internet pages with pictures, video, sound and location maps of all the earth's species".

　　The sheer volume of material currently available online is extensive, he says, but is scattered throughout hundreds of different websites.

　　Scanning millions of pages

　　What EoL will do, through the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) - a consortium of major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries and research institutions - is scan and digitise millions of pages of scientific literature.

　　Graham Higley, chairman of BHL and head of information services at London's Natural History Museum, says that an important part of the job will be to identify species where information is thin and try to make it more comprehensive and usable.

　　Vetted by experts

　　Everything will be vetted by experts before appearing on the site.

　　There will also be a section for what the organisers call "citizen scientists", individuals and groups who observe the natural world as a hobby.　 (Source: British Consulate-General in Chongqing)