Improving our knowledge of the HI Universe will improve our readiness to use the SKA and its Precursors to their full potential. For a holistic view of the HI Universe, two complementary types of galaxy surveys are required, which are likely to sample very different galaxy populations: targeted surveys of galaxies selected in the optical, and blind surveys that completely sample a space volume in the HI line. NIBLES (Nancay Interstellar Baryons Legacy Extragalactic Survey) is a targeted survey of nearby galaxies from the optical SDSS survey that are distributed evenly over their range of total stellar mass, using the 100-m Nany Radio Telescope, and the 300-m Arecibo telescope for follow-up. These surveys will allow us to address a number of outstanding questions in astrophysics, such as: the global baryon budget within the local volume, gas properties as a function of galaxy dynamical mass, stellar mass, and various galaxy morphology parameters. As of date, almost 3000 galaxies have been observed.