Open-access biological databases have long served as pillars for life science research, providing freely accessible data that drive discovery across fields like genetics, ecology, and neuroscience. However, sustaining these resources has been a long-standing challenge, and several Illinois faculty members, including those in the University Library and the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, are working to build awareness of the problem as data resources are exposed to new pressures due to widespread federal funding cuts.
One resource essential to taxonomy and conservation and supported by the Library is the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), the world’s largest open-access digital library dedicated to biodiversity literature, which contains data and metadata from high-resolution archival (scans) and contemporary (born digital) literature and archival material of biodiversity relevance. As reported last July, after 20+ years of support, the Smithsonian Institution announced that it will no longer host the administrative functions of BHL. Biosciences Librarian Kelli Trei is playing a vital role in coordinating BHL’s transition to ensure that the resource can continue to provide primary source material to scientists studying, among other things, historical trends in biodiversity and verification of taxonomic names and classifications. Since July, BHL has partnered with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) as its fiscal sponsor, providing tax-exempt status and a solid legal and financial framework. BHL also published Guiding Principles to shape decision-making into 2026 and launched its first public fundraising campaign to support long-term sustainability and reduce reliance on any single institution.
“The BHL democratizes access to biodiversity information by making centuries of literature containing species descriptions, expedition records, and ecological data freely available online. It serves as a critical resource for taxonomists and scientists, supporting research, conservation, and global collaboration,” said Trei. Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian Claire Stewart adds, “The often unseen work of sustaining large collaborative repositories like the BHL is as at risk as funding for basic science in the current environment.”
Another instrumental resource is WormAtlas, a database detailing the anatomy of the model organism C. elegans, including tens of thousands of highly detailed anatomical images. The resource was recently migrated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to Illinois under the direction of Nate Schroeder, an Associate Professor in Crop Sciences, who consulted with the Library’s Research Data Service during the migration. Schroeder recently co-authored a perspective for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that highlights the role of community-driven data resources in enabling Nobel Prize-winning discoveries. Vignettes of how these resources contributed to the 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2024 Prizes are included, with six Nobel Prize-winning scientists co-authoring the perspective with Schroeder and others. “A strength of C. elegans as a model organism is the community of researchers who study it and the community resource they’ve developed,” says Schroeder. “By aggregating knowledge, these resources are essential for the thousands of scientists who use C. elegans to maximize their research efficiency.”
Both the BHL and WormAtlas were among nine long-lived data resources considered in a recent study by Heidi Imker, the Allen and Elaine Avner Professor of Interdisciplinary Research and Director of the Research Data Service in the Library. Imker, who has been studying the fragility of life science data resources for several years, quickly launched into a project to document anticipated impacts as disruption of federal funding began last spring. A preprint of the study was posted on bioRxiv in October and revealed mounting risks to sustained data access and reuse, declining availability of subject matter expertise, and disrupted research opportunities. Many participants shared how substantial funding reductions would erode progress in their fields by forcing research communities to revert to less coordinated science, ultimately undermining how new scientific findings are interpreted and integrated into existing knowledge.
Illinois’ engagement with WormAtlas and contributions to BHL reflect its leadership in advancing open knowledge, inside the Library and across campus. Imker notes that academic libraries across the country have been doing truly heroic work rescuing “at risk” data, including efforts like the volunteer-led Data Rescue Project. “Efforts like these are critical if resources are to be resurrected one day,” Imker notes, but admits there will be gaps since community resources provide deep disciplinary expertise and extensive user support along with the data. “Supporting these data resources is just as much about preserving and enabling the networks of expertise and knowledge that fuel scientific discoveries,” Imker concludes. “We have to hope that resources like these can continue to exist or brace for less efficient science.”
