Imagine a digital page for every species on the planet. This is what this newly released digital encyclopedia aims at achieving eventually. It is called the Encyclopedia of Life and it is aiming at being a ‘comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized’ encyclopedia. While the project’s information and objectives and plans have been released, the Encyclopedia itself is not yet functional and its fully functional version is expected by mid 2008.
According to its own stated description, the EOL is:
an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.