Elsevier Signs Agreement with Monash University Library

Elsevier Signs Agreement with Monash University Library

September 18, 2006

-- Deal Brings Books on ScienceDirect to 55,000 Students across Asia Pacific

    MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 18 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Elsevier today announced the signing of an agreement for
the provision of vital scientific and medical information
to Monash University.  The agreement provides the 55,000
strong student community, from 10 faculties, with complete
access to 35 Reference Works and 2 Handbooks covering
authoritative titles from the core scientific and medical
literature including such titles as Encyclopedia of Energy,
Encyclopedia of Geology, Encyclopedia of Soils in the
Environment, Treatise on Geochemistry, Encyclopedia of
Biodiversity and the International Encyclopedia of Social
& Behavioral Science. 
 
    The agreement provides the Monash University user
community with access to Reference Works and Handbooks via
ScienceDirect.  Reference Works offer definitive reviews of
their fields, via authoritative, validated content, edited
by international teams of experts.  The scope of these
works ranges from the detailed, exhaustive coverage of
specialist areas to the broad-based succinct overviews in
the Encyclopedias.  Via ScienceDirect, extensive browsing
and advanced searching is possible across subject,
thematic, alphabetical, author and cited author indexes, as
well as internal cross-referencing between articles in the
work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract
databases, making navigation flexible and easy. In addition,
Elsevier's standard `walk-up' provision allows all citizens
free access to scientific and medical information covered
under these agreements.

    "We are very pleased with the interest in our
books on ScienceDirect portfolio from all corners of the
Asia Pacific region," said Pascal van den Nieuwendijk,
Elsevier's Managing Director Science & Technology, Asia
Pacific. "The inclusion of books on ScienceDirect, and
consequently the use of digital texts among students,
researchers and staff, seem to be at a turning point as we
head towards a full digital library environment. Monash
University is the first university in the Asia Pacific
region to opt for a substantial investment in Elsevier's
online reference works and other e-books." 

    "Usage statistics confirm that our large
electronic reference collection is increasingly well used
and represents a better return on our investment than print
reference works," said Sue Clarke, Director Information
Resources at Monash University Library. "The recent
refurbishment of the Hargrave-Andrew Library, which
services our Science, Engineering and Medical faculties,
greatly increased computing facilities and also supplied
wireless access throughout the library, stimulating a huge
increase in notebook PC use.  The sophisticated discovery
process available within the electronic works makes it
easier to pinpoint the information required and to broaden
searches across a wide array of authoritative reference
works.  ScienceDirect allows users to search across
full-text journals, handbooks and major reference works
using an intuitive search interface.  They can access
authoritative information instantly, making it an important
component of our extensive electronic collection." 

    About Monash University and Monash University Library

    Monash University is Australia's most internationalised
university. It has eight campuses including one in Malaysia
and one in South Africa, and centres in London, UK and
Prato, Italy. An energetic and dynamic university, Monash
is committed to quality education and research. Monash is a
member of the Group of Eight (Go8), the top eight leading
universities in Australia.  Further information is
available at:  http://www.go8.edu.au/ . 

    From its humble beginnings in 1960 in a room in the
Vice-Chancellor's house, Monash University Library
http://www.lib.monash.edu/about/ has grown to become one of
Australia's leading academic libraries, with multiple
locations, more than 2.8 million physical items and a very
extensive electronic collection. The library's services and
resources are a vital support to Monash University's high
standards of learning, teaching and research. 

    About Elsevier

    Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific,
technical and medical information products and services.
Working in partnership with the global science and health
communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices
worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new
books per year, in addition to offering a suite of
innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (
http://www.sciencedirect.com/ ), MD Consult (
http://www.mdconsult.com/ ), Scopus (
http://www.info.scopus.com/ ), bibliographic databases, and
online reference works.

    Elsevier ( http://www.elsevier.com/ ) is a global
business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and
has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier
Group plc ( http://www.reedelsevier.com/ ), a world-leading
publisher and information provider. Operating in the science
and medical, legal, education and business-to-business
sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible
information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on
the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker
symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock
Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

    For more information, please contact:

     Dju-Lyn Chng
     Elsevier
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

SOURCE  Elsevier