We love seeing how BHL content is being used, and this is a particularly delightful example (brought to my attention by our BHL colleagues at Harvard University Botany Libraries).
Bizarre Beasts is a video series (produced by Complexly) that creates engaging, accessible episodes exploring the world’s most unusual animals. Each video (around 10 minutes long) blends science and storytelling to bring these species to life for a wide audience.
What makes this series particularly meaningful for us is how often it draws on historical biodiversity literature from BHL.
Diane Rielinger from Harvard University Botany Libraries sent me a link to the Okapi episode. After watching that one, I saw a recent episode about the Thylacine. Both videos trace the scientific discovery and early descriptions of these species through the literature. Along the way, they feature illustrations and excerpts from historic works held in BHL (and elsewhere), helping viewers see how our knowledge and understanding of these animals developed over time.
I was very pleased to see that the Bizarre Beasts team consistently attributed BHL. Images are clearly credited within the videos, and BHL is acknowledged in the end credits, something we deeply appreciate and which hopefully helps connect new audiences with BHL.
If you’ve come across other projects, videos, or creative works using BHL content in interesting ways, we’d love to hear about them here on the forum.