Max Planck expands access to Elsevier portfolio

MUNICH, Germany—Havingoperated on a decentralized basis with their library information services untilnow, the Max Planck Society recently entered into an agreement withAmsterdam-based scientific publisher Elsevier under which all scientists of the80 Max Planck Institutes will be granted access to the entire Elsevierfull-text portfolio for three years. In addition, the society has entered intoa development relationship with Elsevier for future informational offeringsfrom the publisher.

The expanded library access encompasses some 7.5 millionarticles available through ScienceDirect, which is Elsevier's online contentplatform. The actual online library services that the Max Planck Society isaccessing from Elsevier hasn't changed; only the scope of access to thoseservices. The increased access to information is expected to improvepharmaceutical efforts for the society across all areas of research, frompreclinical onward, and into other areas of study as well in life sciences,natural sciences and other areas.

"The institutes had managed their libraries on their ownbefore," notes Brant Emery, a spokesperson for ScienceDirect. "To maximizeefficiency, the Max Planck Society decided to start a process last year ofdeveloping a centralized library. By doing so, they not only gain economies ofscale, but are enabling a combination of online resources to be accessed bymore researchers and to create a much better pool of information for everyoneto draw from."

To further maximize efficiency, the Max Planck Societydecided to use only electronic versions of Elsevier-published articles,according to a news release jointly sent out by the society and Elsevier.

In addition to broadening access to articles for itsresearchers, the Mac Planck Society also accepted an invitation from Elsevierto join ScienceDirect's Development Partner Program, which has been establishedto help model ScienceDirect's continuing development according to customerneeds.

"This program was started in 2006 and is a new program inwhich we develop close collaboration with academic, government and corporateentities to enable better development of products and features as well ascreating a trusted network that can be involved in testing of prototypes andprovide concept development help," Emery explains. "The Max Planck Society has been following the path ofelectronic information provision for several years and knows that excellentresearch is not possible without a wide information base and permanentdevelopments in infrastructure," says Kurt Mehlhorn, vice president of the MaxPlanck Society. "Therefore, it makes sense that the existing collaboration isnot only extended, but that further enhancements to ScienceDirect will also bedirectly influenced. This way we can bring in our experience in the developmentphase [of ScienceDirect] and supply our scientists with new possibilitiesquickly and ideally configured."