BioOneTM (http://www.BioOne.org), a new Web-based aggregation of research in the biological, ecological and environmental sciences, today announced the first set of highly-cited, peer-reviewed journals which has licensed content to BioOne. Additional societies and journals are in the process of signing on and will be announced shortly. BioOne’s launch is slated for 2001.
Ambio (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences); BioScience (American Institute of Biological Sciences); Cell Stress and Chaperones (Cell Stress Society International); The Bryologist (American Bryological & Lichenological Society); and Wetlands and SWS Bulletin Abstracts (Society of Wetland Scientists) have joined BioOne in the past month. BioOne increases functionality of these journals and enhances services to members, especially with its reference linking, broad distribution and library-friendly pricing.
The American Biology Teacher (National Association of Biology Teachers); American Zoologist (Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology); Condor (Cooper Ornithological Society); and Novitates, AMNH Bulletin, and Lecture Series (American Museum of Natural History) are among the dozens of additional journals in the final stages of completing the BioOne licensing agreement.
The journals which have signed on to BioOne in this first stage represent a range of disciplines. They are also highly ranked and well-cited: for example, ISI ranks BioScience fourth of 62, and American Zoologist is seventh out of 115 titles.
“BioOne is a unique partnership among content providers, scientific societies, libraries, and the printing industry,” said Janet Keough, President of the Society of Wetland Scientists. “We believe that this non-profit collaboration will be able, collectively, to provide leadership in the use of 21st century Internet technology to make scientific results and synthesis more available to all scientists on a global scale.”
“The American Museum of Natural History is carefully assessing alternative strategies for digital publishing, and BioOne is building an impressive aggregation of digital publications drawn from our intellectual community,” said Tom Moritz, Director of Library Services at the American Museum of Natural History. “We encourage other institutions to join the BioOne initiative to produce a comprehensive resource for bioscience research, providing tools scientists need.”
“BioOne’s emphasis on serving scientific societies and institutions in a digital age translates into a vision for their viability and competitiveness,” said Alan Covich, Professor, Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University, American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) President and Chair of the Board of BioOne. “The overwhelming response from societies, including those who have taken advantage of our offer to license content at this early stage, demonstrates a true need.”
Many of the societies and institutions which have licensed content to BioOne are looking to its broad distribution among libraries, through Amigos Library Services, to bring their electronic content to a large number of desktops. BioOne and Amigos have signed a letter of intent naming Amigos BioOne’s exclusive U.S. marketer and distributor. This relationship will provide BioOne with access to a marketplace of thousands of libraries across the country. Amigos will also provide full customer and user support for the U.S. market.
Amigos Library Services is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing resource-sharing opportunities and information technology to libraries. It also markets and supports information technology products to a broad base of institutions and libraries of all sizes, as well as providing training and educational services.
BioOne is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2001. A broad selection of the journals published by many of the AIBS’ over 70 member societies will form BioOne’s core offerings. BioOne’s development has been spearheaded by its collaborating organizations, including AIBS, SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), the University of Kansas, the Big 12 Plus Libraries Consortium, and Allen Press. BioOne development has been funded by SPARC and Big 12 Plus member libraries, along with other institutions that are committed to playing a leading role in transforming scientific communications.