Google and the British library the world's greatest research library are joining forces to offer researchers, students and academics desktop delivery of millions of full text scholarly research articles.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
From yesterday, searches on Google scholar will include links to the British Library's document delivery service. Search results will be matched against the Library's holdings and where a match is made, users will have the option to obtain articles held via the British Library's online document ordering interface, British Library Direct. Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library said that the library exists for everyone who wants to do research and it gives priority to initiatives that make collection more easily accessible. By partnering with Google Scholar, the British Library will enable users to identify and locate relevant articles more effectively than has previously been possible. They will provide a swift and easy means for users to have the required items delivered straight in their desktop. Below each successfully matched Google Scholar result, a 'BL Direct' link will appear. Users that click on the link will be taken to an online ordering form already populated with the bibliographic details of the desired article enabling copyright fee-paid supply to the desktop. Until now, online subject searches yielded many results that could not provide researchers with access to full text. By linking Google Scholar's search software with one of the world's largest document supply services, users can now complete the discovery-to-desktop-delivery process. Particular subject strengths in the British Library's research collections include medicine, pharmacy, engineering, science, food and agriculture, economics, environment, law and education. Articles that are available from the library can be delivered direct to users' desktops via Secure Electronic Delivery. Google Scholar enables users to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research.
