News from ScienceDirect

Citation

(2003), "News from ScienceDirect", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 37 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2003.28037aab.006

News from ScienceDirect

News from ScienceDirect

ScienceDirect supports OpenURL standard

ScienceDirect, a division of Elsevier Science, has announced that it now supports the OpenURL standard. This addresses the growing market need for bi-directional interaction between ScienceDirect and other services via link resolvers and significantly expands access to the world's scientific literature via the ScienceDirect platform.

ScienceDirect's implementation of the OpenURL standard means that libraries can now link directly from abstracts in ScienceDirect to the content and services from many other resources. Equally so, links can easily be enabled from other library resources directly to ScienceDirect.

Frank Vrancken Peeters, Managing Director of ScienceDirect, says: "OpenURL is an important consideration for our customers and their direct feedback was one of the primary reasons for our change of policy. Scientists and librarians will be able to get to the appropriate copy they need a lot more easily and directly, wherever this document is hosted."

To facilitate customer implementation of link resolvers, ScienceDirect is partnering with Endeavor Information Systems and Ex Libris. ScienceDirect's use of the OpenURL protocol enables direct linking through LinkFinderPlus (www.endinfosys.com) and SFX (www.sfxit.com) to its full-text articles.

Jane Burke, President and CEO of Endeavor, says: "Any library with LinkFinderPlus installed now can offer the bi-directional linking that enables end users to navigate with exceptional speed across the breadth of scientific literature to locate the documents they need."

Ex Libris' SFX is also fully supported by ScienceDirect's OpenURL implementation. Jenny Walker, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Information Services Division of Ex Libris, comments: "This is excellent news for our growing number of mutual customers who will benefit greatly from these developments. By supporting the OpenURL standard, Elsevier Science confirms the importance of context sensitive linking and OpenURL initiatives."

Elsevier Science supports the ongoing development of OpenURL and participates in the NISO committee that is refining the OpenURL standard. A founding member of CrossRef, Elsevier Science is committed to actively supporting industry-wide cross-platform linking solutions.

ScienceDirect increases access flexibility by offering pay per view for guests

ScienceDirect has announced the launch of Pay per View for guests, a new access option for full text. ScienceDirect offers Pay per View to improve access to scientific journals on ScienceDirect. It is especially useful for individuals who do not have access to this electronic platform for scientific, technical and medical information and users "on the road".

Guest users of ScienceDirect – i.e. users not associated with a ScienceDirect account – now can browse all of the ScienceDirect journals, read abstracts and choose to purchase full-text articles by credit card and download them in HTML and PDF format. Additionally, guest users of ScienceDirect can set up free table of contents e-mail alerts and create personal journals.

Frank Vrancken Peeters, Managing Director of ScienceDirect, says: "Browsing journals, reading abstracts and the option to purchase articles are especially interesting to individuals who don't have access to ScienceDirect. Also for users "on the road", attending scientific meetings who need access to one or more Elsevier Science full-text articles, this new service is very useful. Elsevier Science has, like many other STM (scientific, technical, medical) publishers, put a great effort into the disclosure of scholarly information through its ScienceDirect product. Institutes already had the option to access unsubscribed full-text articles through transactional access. By offering pay per view for guests, availability of our content gets a new dimension and we trust that we now make accessibility of our content even more flexible."

ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), the world's largest provider of scientific, technical and medical information, is an open platform offering its subscribers desktop access to more than two million full-text articles. Coverage includes over 1,500 journals published by Elsevier Science and access to journals from around 120 publishers through CrossRef. An expanding suite of scientific full text and databases in a rich linking environment provides subscribers with extensive access, with increased flexibility, to the world's published STM literature.

ScienceDirect is a division of Elsevier Science and part of the Reed Elsevier plc group (www.reed-elsevier.com). Operating in the scientific, legal and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high value and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a delivery method.

For further information please contact: Amanda Spiteri, Marketing and Communications Director, ScienceDirect, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (20) 485 2677; Fax: +31 (20) 485 3354; E-mail: c.spiteri@elsevier.com; URL: www.elsevier.com

Global Librarian links Southampton Public Library and Vaughan Public Library, Ontario

In what is believed to be the first scheme of its kind in the UK, a new transatlantic partnership provides round-the-clock access to a reference librarian. Global Librarian was launched in September 2002 and links reference librarians at Southampton Public Libraries in the UK with their counterparts in Vaughan, Ontario to provide a free, virtually 24-hour online service to anyone with access to the Internet.

The scheme was set up after former Southampton reference librarian, Frances Stocker, emigrated to Canada but stayed in contact with her Southampton colleagues. Libraries in Surrey, British Columbia and Melbourne, Australia are also planning to join Global Librarian.

Southampton's Cabinet Member for leisure, Councillor Derek Burke, welcomed the new scheme and said: "Global Librarian is further evidence of Southampton City Council's innovative approach to developing better services for users. I am sure the 24-hour availability of information will be welcomed by users everywhere, and I am proud that Southampton has helped initiate what I am sure will develop as a global partnership."

For further information please contact: Media and Communications, Southampton City Council, Civic Centre, Southampton SO14 7NG, UK. Tel: +44(0) 23 8022 3855; Fax: +44 (0) 23 8023 4537; URL: www.southampton.gov.uk