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Online Library Gives Iraquis Access to Science
By Cathy A. Jones
On May 3, scientists and government officials announced the launch of the Iraq Virtual Science Library, which makes more than 17,000 major scientific journals available to Iraqi engineers, physicians, researchers, and scientists. Through the online library, almost 80 percent of Iraq’s scientists and university students will have access to the scientific content available at any top-tier university in the United States.
“If Iraqi scientists and engineers are going to be able to help rebuild and stabilize their country, they have to be able to access current knowledge in their fields,” says D. J. Patil, a research scientist with the Institute for Physical Sciences and Technology at the University of Maryland. Patil participated in constructing the library through the Science and Technology Policy Fellows Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The library was created through a public-private partnership involving, among other groups, technology companies, several U.S. government agencies, and publishers of scientific journals. The State Department, the Defense Department, and the Civilian Research and Development Foundation subsidized the effort, and the National Academy of Sciences worked with publishers to help secure access to journals. The library’s creators see it as a way to counter the deterioration of Iraq’s scientific, technical, and educational infrastructure that occurred during Saddam Hussein’s rule and the damage and looting caused by the current war.
“Physically building a library in Iraq would be prohibitively expensive and take a long time,” Patil says. “And even if you could build it, scientists would not be able to access it easily or safely under current circumstances. We realized that building a digital library would avoid these difficulties, and we recognized that such a digital library could also serve as a model for other developing countries.”
The library has been made available to seven Iraqi universities, one research institution, and the ministries of higher education and science and technology. In addition to journals, the library contains millions of articles on science and engineering, online training and educational materials, and information on funding opportunities. It also offers online access to course materials, enabling students to keep up with their studies even when fear or threats of violence force them to stay home.
Patil says the next phase of the project will be to get the word out to potential users. “There isn’t a good way to advertise to let everyone know about this resource,” he explains. At least one user, however—a PhD student in molecular spectroscopy from the University of Baghdad—has written to express his gratitude for the resource. “I am Kurdish living in Kurdistan,” he wrote. “So I cannot communicate with my supervisor, because of the dangers of traveling on the highway which arise from the Baghdad situation. There isn’t any system for getting papers. That is why I am very grateful; thanks to you for helping me.”
Ultimately, control of the library will be transferred to Iraqis. “Our goal is to work with Iraqis to build an online community that will help foster a sense of ownership among Iraqis and facilitate the transfer of the entire project to Iraq,” Patil says. “Our biggest challenge right now is to secure funding for the subscriptions until we can do so.”
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