INASP is providing online acress to the ISI Web of Science in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. From yesterday's press release: 'The staff working on the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information [PERI], a programme of INASP (the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) face one of the most challenging tasks in the information industry today. Their job is to maximise the opportunities for researchers in developing countries by providing access to world-class information resources. The agreement giving Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania access to Web of Science(R) is the latest in an impressive list of success stories for INASP, but they prefer to keep out of the spotlight. INASP was established in 1992 by the International Council for Science (ICSU) to improve access to information and knowledge through a commitment to capacity building in emerging and developing countries....Increased knowledge and learning within developing countries increases local capacities and has the potential to reduce local dependency upon the advances made in richer countries that are typically very expensive to acquire. A stronger knowledge base prevents the economic advantage from patents, applications and useful results being lost to richer, more developed countries. Kofi Annan has spoken of how "the unbalanced distribution of scientific activity generates serious problems not only for the scientific community in the developing countries, but for development itself. It accelerates the disparity between advanced and developing countries, creating social and economic difficulties at both national and international levels." (Kofi Annan, A Challenge to the World’s Scientists, Science 2003 March 7; 299: 1485)..."Web of Science(R) and Journal Citation Reports(R) are sophisticated and extremely useful tools for researchers and information professionals. The fact that these tools are now available on a country-wide basis means colleagues in several developing countries can better inform, gauge and plan their research," said Sarah [Durrant, Senior Programme Manager at INASP.] "This is an important agreement for Thomson Scientific," said Keith MacGregor, Executive Vice President, Academic and Government markets, Thomson Scientific. "You cannot underestimate the role of quality research tools such as the Web of Science in helping researchers in developing countries to connect with - and contribute to - international research efforts.'
(PS: I can't tell whether INASP is providing free or merely inexpensive access to this content. INASP usually provides free access. But if this access were free, I'd think the press release would say so.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/21/2005 01:29:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
