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National Academies Reports Now Available in Open Access

The National Academies (www.nationalacademies.org) announced the completion of the first phase of a partnership with Google to digitize the library's collection of reports from 1863 to 1997, making them available-free, searchable, and in full text-through Google Book Search (http://books.google.com). The Academies plan to have their entire collection of nearly 11,000 reports digitized by 2011.

Prior to this project, the Academies digitized more than 4,000 books and made them available online through the National Academies Press (www.nap.edu); most of those can also be found in Google Book Search. However, researchers who needed to gain access to hard copies of older reports, part of a legacy collection in the library, could not always find what they wanted. Many of these reports exist as single copies, and the library feared potential damage or loss of this important collection. These older reports have been digitized and are now accessible through Google. The Academies hope that wider availability of its reports will be of use to scientists in developing countries, who often rely on the internet to gather information.

The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Source: The National Academies