The Library of Alexandria and Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide 150 researchers working in least-developed and low-income countries across the globe with access to ScienceDirect, Elsevier’s online scientific research platform with 11 million full text articles, and Scopus, an abstract and citation database containing 21,000 peer-reviewed journals from 5,000 publishers. The new agreement will provide courtesy access for a period of three years.
As an integral part of this initiative, the BA will also facilitate research capacity building, or the development of strong research skills through a closed Virtual Knowledge Community (VKC) to provide the scientists with regular support including: research best practices, information literacy and authorship skills training.
“Science can help feed the hungry, heal the sick, protect the environment, bring dignity to work and create space for the joy of self-expression… but if we do not build capacity for the deprived to have access to the best of science, the gap between the rich and the poor will increase”, said Serageldin, “This collaboration between Elsevier and the Library of Alexandria is intended to empower many researchers in Africa to have access to the best of science today.”
Mohamed Kamel, Elsevier’s Regional Director Africa, said, “It is an honor to support the critical work that the Library of Alexandria is undertaking to provide access to information, develop capacity and drive science in key developing world institutes, bringing researchers closer to their peers across the world.
