The Geological Society of London used the occasion of its
Bicentennial Conference on 12th September to announce that all the
current and archival content from its digitised publications - the
Lyell Collection - will shortly be made freely available to higher
education institutions and NGOs in developing countries. Researchers,
teachers and students in some of the poorest countries around the
world will now have access to over 14,000 original research articles
and 230,000 full-text pages from the Society's collection of world-
leading journals and special publications, stretching from the mid
1800s through to the present day.
Access to the Lyell Collection will be facilitated by INASP (the
International Network for the Availability of Scientific
Publications). However, the Geological Society believes that further
support is required if this access is be translated into knowledge
and actions that will have a real and positive impact on the progress
of developing countries. To that end, the Society has formed a
partnership with Schlumberger - a leading provider of technology,
project management and information solutions to the oil, gas and
water extraction industries. Through this partnership, the Geological
Society and Schlumberger will focus support where the local
infrastructure and expertise can utilise the Society's information
resources to best effect. The Geological Society and Schlumberger
are also working with AfricaArray - an initiative that brings
together education, training and research programmes for building and
maintaining a scientific workforce for Africa's natural resource sector.
For a list of qualifying countries for free online access to the
Lyell Collection under INASP's PERI (Programme for the Enhancement of
Research Information), please see: http://peri.inasp.info/peri/
peri.pl?cid=0. For further information on any other aspects of this
programme, please contact: [log in to unmask]
Institutions outside of the developing countries programme can gain
access to the Lyell Collection through an annual subscription. For
more information on subscription options and prices please go to:
www.lyellcollection.org.
Neal Marriott
Director of Publishing
Geological Society Publishing House
Tel: +44 (0)1225 445046
Email: [log in to unmask]
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