The green light has been given for the Access to Research initiative to continue providing users of public libraries free access to over 10 million academic articles.
The service, originally launched as a two year pilot scheme by the Universities and Science Minister in 2014, has been declared a success by the Publishers Licensing Society and the Society of Chief Librarians.
Now, two years on, and with over 3,000 hits from Brighton & Hove public library customers alone, librarians are being encouraged to continue promoting the service.
The Jubilee library is one of the top performing libraries in the country in terms of people using the service and it is used by a wide range of people, including authors undertaking research, students, hobbyists and those in adult education.
Almost every academic discipline is covered by the journals available through Access to Research. Results have found that in Brighton & Hove the most popular search terms include death in France by poison mushroom, Irish settlement in south west Wales and diabetic retinopathy image processing, showing users are taking full advantage of the wide variety of topics.
Cllr Alan Robins, Deputy Chair of Economic Development and Culture Committee, said: “It is wonderful to see the Access to Research initiative being so well received by the libraries and residents of Brighton and Hove and the fact we will be able to continue providing this service is great news. It is a brilliant resource that provides people with information they might not otherwise have access to.”
Access to Research is one of the many online resources customers can access for free with their library card and is available in all the Brighton & Hove libraries. Users can search for articles, view results and check journal titles from home using the link http://www.accesstoresearch.org.uk and will need to log in to a library computer to access full articles.
There is still time to complete the online consultation about Library Services in the city.
Find out more and complete the questionnaire here: