The JPEG2000 (JP2) image file format offers significant benefits to biodiversity collections over traditional JPEG (JPG) images through its superior compression and decoding capabilities. Lossless compression is possible at reductions comparable to the lossy "highest" JPEG compression. Regions of interest can be decoded without decoding the entire image file, and decoding can take place at less than full resolution. These techniques can reduce transmission time in many applications. Finally, JPEG2000 has good facilities for embedding XML annotations in the image file itself, allowing for the storage and distribution of imagery plus metadata within a single file. However, adoption of the JPEG2000 format has been slow because of the relatively limited software solutions available for encoding, decoding, and serving JPEG2000 images. The presentation will cover examples of JPEG2000 in use by museums and libraries, including a discussion of the various software applications currently available, plus potential future uses of the format.