Enabling International Digital
Projects: Lessons Learned
Association of Research Libraries
148th Members Meeting
Ottawa, Ontario 18 May 2006
Wendy D. White
Director, Board on International
Scientific Organizations
Why support science?
• Promotes moderation and rationality
• Supports the development of the knowledge
society
• Promotes transparency, democracy, and
meritocracy – inherent principles of science
• Underpinning of economic development
Board on International Scientific Organizations
Why Build S&T Digital Libraries?
• Global questions currently on the scientific
agenda require increased multidisciplinary
and international collaboration
• Intrinsic nature of science is universal, its
success depends on cooperation, interaction
and exchange, often beyond national
boundaries
• Scientists must have open access to each
other and to scientific data and information
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S&T Digital Library Consortia
• PERI -- INASP
• HINARI – World Health Organization
• AGORA – Food and Agriculture
Organization
• EiFL
• These digital library projects provide
discounted access to published collections.
They are not projects that collect and
digitize local information, artifacts, etc.
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Common Characteristics
• Support capacity building in the research
sector in developing and transitional
countries by strengthening access to S&T
information
• Negotiated consortia licensing
• No cost at point of use
• Available only in countries without large
markets for publishers
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Common Characteristics
• Countrywide access available to not-forprofit institutes
• Publishers provide low-price access to highvalue, high-impact content
• Definitions and criteria for inclusion may
vary but goals are basically the same
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PERI/INASP
• http://www.inasp.info/peri/index.shtml
• Local research community identifies
required resources
• Implemented in a planned and phased
manner – more than 50 countries involved
in some part of program
• Access to over 17,000 full text journals
• Links to open literature, not controlled by
licenses
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PERI/INASP
• Program components include:
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Delivering information
Strengthening national research publications
Enhancing ICT skills
Supporting country collaboration and
networking
– Initiating research and development
• Sustainable program – countries share in
costs
Board on International Scientific Organizations
HINARI/WHO
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http://www.who.int/hinari/en/
Health and biomedical focus
3280 full text online journals.
2000 institutions registered in 106 countries
HINARI users logged onto system 98,000
times in April 2006
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AGORA/FAO
• http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/
• Agriculture and related biological,
environmental and social sciences
• 849 journals to institutions in 69 countries
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eIFL - Electronic Information for
Libraries/SOROS
• http://www.eifl.net/
• eIFL aims to facilitate affordable access to
electronic scholarly resources by libraries in about
40 countries in transition.
• Along with its services promoting access to
content in social sciences and humanities as well
as science and technology, eIFL also offers various
programs that support library consortium building
in countries in transition.
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NAS Experience with Digital
Libraries for Developing Countries
• WDW member of INASP Board of
Trustees, MLS, 30+ years of work in 50+
countries
• NAS provides it own journal, PNAS,
available to developing countries
• Guidance from INASP’s PERI project
• Completed two digital library projects –
Pakistan and Iraq
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Pakistan Digital Library
• The “add-on” model
• Higher Education Commission in Pakistan
had digital library project – and provided
central funding for and control over digital
library for all colleges and universities
• Strong ministry provided financial and staff
support
• Funds from DoS, via bi-lateral S&T
agreement
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Pakistan Digital Library
• Researchers identified additional resources
primarily from U.S. scientific societies
• Turned to NAS to help negotiate differential
prices
• Single point of contact – expert partner
• INASP provided expert negotiator
• Gained participation from all target
publishers
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Iraq Virtual Science Library
• The “from scratch” model -- no existing
digital library
• Technology infrastructure compromised by
looting, war
• No logical in-country partner
• Not a participant in PERI -- but HINARI
operating in Iraq
• Project funded by DoD, through DoS, to
NAS
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Iraq Virtual Science Library
• Recruited project manager of Pakistan
digital library
• Identified highest impact S&T journals
• Started with publishers from Pakistan
project
• Asked publishers for deep discounts and
they responded
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Iraq Virtual Science Library
• Iraq suffered deterioration of scientific,
technical, and educational infrastructure
during 30 years of Saddam Hussein’s rule
• NAS not responsible for technical aspects
of project but had to work with DoD to
overcome unique problems
• Had to work around IP address problem and
allow access from Internet cafes, etc.
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Iraq Virtual Science Library
• Website hosted at DoD
• Licenses held by NAS
• Access limited to 7 universities, plus 2
ministries, and 1 research organization
• Need to verify that users were from these
institutions – use of “registrar”
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IVSL Participants
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American Chemical Society
American Physical Society
American Institute of Physics
American Mathematical Society
Association for Computing Machinery
American Society for Civil Engineering
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Annual Reviews
Elsevier Publishing
EBSCO Publishing
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
ISI Web of Knowledge / Thomson Scientific
JSTOR
MIT OpenCourseWare
SpringerLink
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Digital Libraries Outcome
• Both projects provide scientists, engineers,
physicians, researchers, and students with
electronic access to over 17,000 journals
and their archives, containing millions of
articles on science and engineering, as well
as online training and educational materials,
and information on funding opportunities.
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Digital Libraries Outcome
• In Iraq, $11 million of resources available
for $170,000
• Nearly 80% of the Iraqi higher education
community, and government scientists,
with access to the same scientific content
available at any top-tier university in the
United States.
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FAQ’s
• How will you translate all the articles into
English?
– Articles are full text in language in which they
were published. There is no translation.
English is the “language of science.”
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FAQ’s
• Why are there no journals in my field?
– There probably are but you need to know how
to find them. Also, with limited budget, we
went after highest impact journals.
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FAQ’s
• How did you decide what to include?
– In Pakistan, content was determined via a
survey of the researchers
– In Iraq, we went for mainstream S&T journals
with highest impact.
– In both countries, we excluded content
available through any of the other consortia
operating in those countries
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FAQ’s
• What if an Iraqi researcher learns something
he or she shouldn’t?
– Journals are in public domain, have been
through peer review
– Nothing in IVSL that is not available to anyone
with a library card
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FAQ’s
• How do you make these partnerships work?
– Each partner had different language and slightly
different goal. Much of project was
“management by committee.” NAS exercised
final authority only in content negotiations and
made clear that deals reached are “business
confidential.”
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FAQ’s
• How did you deal with the press?
– Each in our own way!
– Sample press releases prove different style
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Do They Even Have Computers
There?
• Yes, of course.
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Lessons Learned
• Need strong leadership – ministry level
support willing to put in $$ and political
will
• Need receptive scientific community
• Flexibility in addressing technical
infrastructure problems. Start with what is
available and build from there. Build it and
they will come.
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Lessons Learned
• Base agreement with publishers on business
models to provide for sustainability and to
protect publishers interests
– Basic pricing model was country-wide license
for price of one institution, plus 90% discount
• Don’t ask for 95% discounts where
publishers have strong subscription base
• Much can be done before licenses are
negotiated. Get people started with free,
public-access material
Board on International Scientific Organizations
Wendy D. White
Director, Board on International Scientific Organizations
The National Academies
500 5th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Tel: 202-334-2807; Fax: 202-334-2231
Email: wwhite@nas.edu
Web: http://national-academies.org/biso
http://national-academies.org/visas
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