By Robin Deacle
E-Communications Manager
When a biotech researcher comes up with a great idea with commercial potential, he or she has to leave the safety of a university environment to see if the new business can succeed.
Setting up a company – finding laboratory and office space, stocking the lab, and even doing the bookkeeping – can be an unexpected shock for an academic. Even more of a shock is the cost of the scientific journals they rely on for information.
For the third year, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center is offering those small companies an option. Companies that need just a few licenses can join a consortium to purchase services from Elsevier’s ScienceDirect – at a price much more palatable to the cash-strapped startup company.
"There is no other way that a small company is going to get this kind of access," said Karin Shank, a research librarian at the Biotechnology Center and coordinator of the ScienceDirect Consortium.
Online Access
ScienceDirect gives online access to about one-fourth of all scientific journals published and is one of the largest publishers of this kind of literature. Researchers can look up an article or research a specific topic right on their desktops.
While the online service won’t meet every information need of the scientific startup company, it is a step in the right direction. And the more informed business is more likely to succeed.
"Scientists really need to keep up with what's going on in their field," Shank said. "They need to know about new discoveries or studies that impact their patents, or find opportunities for potential collaborations and partnerships."
The Biotechnology Center's library provides numerous information resources to the state's bioscience community. The RTP location is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.Here's how the process works. Each company signs an agreement with the Biotechnology Center. A minimum of three researchers at $1,000 each is required. Elsevier takes over, setting up the online access and billing.
Compared to the $50,000 minimum charge for larger companies, this can be a real savings. In fact, consortium members saved nearly $800,000 this year alone. The consortium began at the end of 2005 with 60 participants and grew to 82 at the end of the year. Now it stands at 169 researchers at 19 companies.
"This is the most cost effective way to get literature, and it is delivered right to your desktop," Shank said. "I think the deal speaks for itself."
Library staff is working on other similar deals to benefit smaller companies. One will be a six-month paid trial for electronic access to Business Insights, a popular market research report. Pipeline database options are also being considered.
New enrollments for ScienceDirect are being accepted through Nov. 2. Contact Karin Shank at 919-549-8852 for more information about any of the opportunities mentioned here.