With the National Academies coordinating the overall program, the Iraq Virtual Science Library was launched May 3 at the National Academy of Science (NAS) in Washington, D.C. Nearly 80 percent of Iraq’s scientists and university students now will have access to the electronic library.
Including ACS, the world’s largest scientific society, 20 nonprofit and commercial scientific publishers and federal and academic organizations will be offering access at discounts averaging 95 percent. Additionally, the scientific community in Iraq will be billed as one site by each publisher as if all of the scientists and students comprised a small college library, according to NAS officials.
"The American Chemical Society is proud to have worked with the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Government to be the first participating partner in the Iraqi Virtual Science Library," said Robert D. Bovenschulte, president of the ACS Publications Division. "The ACS is providing access to 33 ACS journals, including our flagship journal, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and flagship magazine, Chemical & Engineering News, to seven major Iraqi Universities, the Iraqi Interim Center for Science & Industry, the Iraq National Academy of Science and Iraqi Academy of Science, and the Ministry for Higher Education & Scientific Research & Ministry of Science and Technology. It is a distinct honor to do so."
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than 158,000 chemists and chemical engineers. It publishes numerous scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.