SCONUL Research Extra: press release

27 April, 2005

Membership of the Society of College, National & University Libraries' (SCONUL) Research Extra scheme has reached 96% of eligible institutions in its first year of operation.

Launched in 2003, SCONUL Research Extra is the largest academic access scheme in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and allows members of an extended academic community to share publicly funded resources by extending borrowing privileges to all participating libraries.

Initially supported by a core of 60 universities and other higher education colleges, SCONUL Research Extra has now achieved the participation of 156 out of a possible 162 eligible institutions.

Since its inception, the SCONUL Research Extra scheme has resulted in:

• 8622 academics and research students registering with other university libraries; and
• a total of 92,547 loans and renewals being issued.

Suzanne Enright, Chair of the Executive Board of SCONUL and Director of Information Systems and Library Services at the University of Westminster says: 'SCONUL Research Extra represents a new era of cooperation within the higher education community; reducing the number of restrictions on researchers accessing resources. For the future, we look forward to SCONUL Research Extra becoming an integral part of work of the Research Libraries Network.'

Dorothy Rowe, Senior Lecturer, School of Arts, University of Roehampton, one of SCONUL Research Extra's member institutions, says: 'The scheme actually fosters academic freedom at a time when it is being increasingly proscribed in other areas.'

Continued take-up of the scheme will be monitored on an annual basis. For a full account of SCONUL Research Extra see pages 80-82 of SCONUL Focus, issue 33, at http://www.sconul.ac.uk

For further information, contact: Toby Bainton, SCONUL, 102 Euston Street, London NW1 2HA, Tel: 020 7387 0317, Fax: 020 7383 3197, e-mail: Toby.Bainton@sconul.ac.uk