The Natural History Museum is one of the world’s leading research institutions for biological
diversity research with collections comprising some 8 million specimens representing a vast wealth of
data. It also holds one of the foremost collections of biodiversity-related literature in its Library and
Archives, with over one million items catalogued, ranging from artworks and historical manuscripts to
born-digital material such as journal articles. This study investigates the impact of discovery systems on search and research at the Natural History Museum with the objectives: to determine exact attitudes to searching for biodiversity
information resources using the Library and Archives discovery system and the Data Portal; to explore
how biodiversity information is discovered and used through the discovery system; to examine the
impact of discovery systems on search and research; and to document the transition toward a digital,
networked and aggregated discovery system approach to managing biodiversity information. To date,
this is the first case study of the implementation of a discovery system in a natural history museum
library with a focus on biodiversity research.