| Swets Blackwell has announced the arrangement of a national license
between the National Steering Committee of Iceland and six major STM publishers.
The discussions were carried out by Swets Blackwell's office in Copenhagen,
Denmark, in close collaboration with the head office in Lisse, Netherlands.
Under the terms of the agreement, Icelandic libraries, government and
academic institutions, and private citizens will have full-text access
to journals produced by the following publishers: Academic Press (now part
of Elsevier Science), Blackwell Publishing, S. Karger Publishers, Kluwer
Academic Publishers, and Springer-Verlag. Iceland's 283,000 inhabitants
can now access more than 2,000 e-journals from their offices as well as
their private homes. For the first time, publishers can analyze the "e-journal
behavior" of an entire nation.
Geert Visscher, CEO of Swets Blackwell, said: "It has been both a challenge
and a privilege to work on a contract of such a singular nature. We were
able to bring Swets Blackwell's considerable experience working with both
libraries and publishers to the task."
Peter Munksgaard, director of Swets Blackwell Denmark, said: "The size
of the Icelandic population made the contract possible, but the publishers'
willingness to walk down untrodden paths was a significant factor in its
success. Giving access to everyone within a single country is an achievement
all involved can be proud of."
The National Steering Committee of Iceland is delighted with the agreement.
The committee's administrator, Thora Gylfadottir, said: "Our users are
very happy with the e-journals. With one stroke,Swets Blackwell and the
participating publishers have given the Icelandic population access to
an enormous collection of knowledge."
Source: Swets Blackwell, Lisse, Netherlands, 011-31-252-435-111; http://www.swetsblackwell.com. |
