The American Physical Society (APS) has announced a new public access initiative that will give readers and researchers in public libraries in the US full use of all online APS journals, from the most recent articles back to the first issue in 1893. The collection includes over 400,000 scientific research papers. APS will provide this access at no cost to participating public libraries, as a contribution to public engagement with the ongoing development of scientific understanding.
Public libraries have long played a central role in the country's intellectual life. Though this initiative, APS seeks to make public libraries an important avenue for the general public to reach the Society's research journals. These journals, until now, have been available only through the subscriptions at research institutions that currently cover the significant costs of peer review and online publication.
Librarians can obtain access by accepting a simple online site license and providing valid IP addresses of public-use computers in their libraries (http://librarians.aps.org/account/public_access_new). The license requires that public library users must be in the library when they read the APS journals or download articles. Initially the program will be offered to US public libraries, but may include additional countries in the future.
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