Over 700 Elsevier science and technology books now available in Research4Life

Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced that 780 of its science and technology electronic books will be added to Research4Life. Elsevier Science & Technology Books provides award-winning, leading-edge books and education resources to information professionals worldwide.

"An educated citizenry is the single most important natural resource for any nation," said Suzanne BeDell, Managing Director of Elsevier Science & Technology Books. "We, our staff and our authors, are proud to make available our SciVerse ScienceDirect electronic books through Research4Life to so many scientists and other information professionals working to improve the quality of life in their countries."

Research4Life is the collective name given to HINARI, AGORA and OARE, the three public-private partnerships that offer health, agriculture and environmental research for free or at very low cost to developing countries. Key partners include the World Health Organization, FAO, UNEP, Cornell and Yale Universities, the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers and technology partner, Microsoft. Over 150 publishers, among them Elsevier, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell and Oxford University Press provide their journal content.

"The Global South will benefit enormously from the significant electronic book collection Elsevier is now offering for distribution through Research4Life" said Kimberly Parker, HINARI Program Manager at the WHO, "The scientific researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in developing countries are eager to gain access to the evidence distilled in book form."

A founding partner, Elsevier is the leading contributor to the UN's Research4Life programs, providing over a quarter of the peer reviewed literature. Through these programs Elsevier makes over 1,600 electronic journals available for free or at very low cost in developing countries. In December 2009, Elsevier also announced that Sciverse Scopus, a web-integrated literature research tool with direct links to 18,000 full-text articles from 5,000 publishers, citation information, library resources, patent searches and reference management software, is freely available through Research4Life.

Provided by Elsevier