WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The first phase of an initiative to modernize Iraqi libraries into the digital world is complete thanks to a team from the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the U.S. Defense and State departments.
Iraqi engineers, scientists and students can now access more than 1 million articles from some 17,000 journals including The American Chemical Society, The American Institute of Physics and The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
To date, the team has garnered support from tech and government entities as well as $360,000 from the Advanced Systems Concept Office in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop the digital library Web portal.
Named the Iraqi Virtual Science Library, the team of Science and Technology Policy Fellows hopes it will allow the Iraqi scientific community to "easily and safely" access information.
"The IVSL is a shining example of how today's Internet technologies can enable people even under the most difficult situations," said Dr. Susan Cumberledge, co-founder of the IVSL project and former AAAS fellow. "We need to ensure that the blueprint developed here is used to ensure that all developing countries have a basic library system that allows them to connect with the international scientific community and build an operational infrastructure that fosters better lives for their citizens."
In addition, phase one of their initiative will provide access to online courses, funding and research, and other tools necessary to finding information in the rebuilding effort, the IVSL team said.
To complete the first phase, the team had to evaluate Internet connectivity for partner universities, systems and software development and launch the centrally controlled and managed portal, they said. This was followed by working with the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research and the Iraqi Ministry of Science & Technology to form a public/private partnership, they said.
"The Iraqi scientists we have worked with are very smart and are eager to re-enter the international scientific community," said Dr. DJ Patil, another co-founder and former fellow. "They are grateful for the resources the IVSL provides and are enthusiastic about working together to make the IVSL a long term success."
But the IVSL team had much help to make the initiative a reality, consulting with Sun Microsystems Inc. to build a public/private partnership for the digital library Web portal.
The partnership includes a slew of tech companies and government agencies that include the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Elsevier Publishing, EBSCO Publishing, Science.gov, SpringerLink and Thomson Scientific.
"The IVSL project is indicative of how eliminating the digital divide enables positive improvements to both the online and the offline world," said Kim Jones, Sun Microsystems' vice president of education and research. "This project underscores Sun's commitment to enable developing countries to take advantage of leading edge technologies, improving lives and opening new markets."
What are the next steps for the project?
According to the team, they are now planning to develop a new Web site using Java technology and standard digital library development protocols for journal access, as well as move the project from a U.S.-hosted portal to eight locally based portals running on Sun Fire T2000 servers.
The local portals, the team said, will "allow Iraqi universities to strengthen their academic community, manage license fees and reduce costs."
It also hopes to transition ownership and support of the project to the Iraqis within the next two years, which is currently being managed by the U.S. Civilian Research Developer Foundation.
Currently, Sun Microsystems is working with the fellows and the CRDF to create a journal access "portal in a box" to be launched and maintained by Iraqi universities, the team also noted.
