Mission:
To advance and preserve knowledge about the world's animal and plant species.

Background:
The Encyclopedia of Life is an online database that catalogs all plants, animals, and microorganisms known to science. The site includes pages for each of the approximately 1.8 million known species. Staffed by scientists and non-scientists working at museums and research institutions around the world, EoL provides information suitable for the general public as well as linked pages aimed at more specialized users. Since its launch early in 2008, EoL has become an important resource for scientists, natural resource managers, conservationists, teachers, and students looking to browse the entire living world in a dynamic Web environment.

Outstanding Web Features:
Species pages include a treasure trove of links enabling visitors to search for organisms by taxonomy, geography, collection, genetics, evolutionary history, morphology, behavior, and ecological relationships. Managed by EoL staff, the site includes a library of historical literature, biological descriptions, images, videos, and distribution maps provided by institutional and data partners such as the Field Museum of Natural History and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Visitors to the site can personalize how content is displayed, take a virtual tour of the site, share photos of organisms on Flickr, and become a "curator" or make a donation.