Los Alamos National Laboratory and APS Sign Agreement for Content Hosting License

For immediate release

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., October 30, 2003 � Los Alamos National Laboratory has obtained a license to the American Physical Society's entire collection of PDFs and XML data for local content hosting. The cooperative agreement under which the license was signed includes the APS online journals Physical Review, Physical Review Letters, Reviews of Modern Physics, and Physical Review Online Archive (PROLA). APS and Los Alamos will use Open Archive Initiative (OAI) protocols to keep the Los Alamos copy synchronized with the APS original version.

"Licensing our electronic archive while maintaining its integrity and currency is a remarkably complex operation, and we are pleased to join Los Alamos as partners in this effort," said Thomas J. McIlrath, treasurer and publisher of the American Physical Society. �By moving deliberately with a leading technical partner, we hope that a product of maximum usefulness and longevity will be achieved. It is especially noteworthy to APS that Los Alamos will offer other libraries and institutions access to the collection through its integrated service. Fair value for the licensing agreement was paid by Los Alamos, reflecting both parties' desire to address the challenge of supporting the distribution of scientific information during the transition from the classic print-oriented environment to digital distribution. The number of technical issues which will be addressed is extensive and we are very excited about the future.�

Mark Doyle, assistant director of Journal Information Systems for APS, added, "Developing a robust, distributed electronic archive that is easy to keep in sync and up to date is an essential component of the APS digital archiving strategy. Our partnership with Los Alamos' Research Library is an ideal vehicle for exploring and solving the myriad issues that arise in such an effort. We hope that our work will be a foundation from which others can learn."

Herbert Van de Sompel, leader of the Digital Library Research and Prototyping Team at Los Alamos, said, "Our collaboration with the APS on this project has interesting technical challenges. We are looking into using the Open Archives Protocol for Metadata Harvesting to transport both APS metadata and full-content toward Los Alamos' repository." He added that the project also looks into using an MPEG-21-based XML structure developed by his team to wrap the various data streams relating to an individual APS article into a single, complex digital object.

Rick Luce, Research Library director, added, �This agreement will provide a set of critical physics content that we can richly integrate into our information environment and services. In addition, it will provide a model mechanism for a standardized distribution of content using the Open Archives Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.�

The American Physical Society is a membership organization that is dedicated to the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics. APS publishes leading international physics journals, including Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, organizes major scientific meetings and provides strong outreach programs in education and international and public affairs.

Los Alamos' Research Library is the home of the Library Without Walls, internationally recognized as a pioneering, state-of-the-art, large-scale digital library.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos develops and applies science and technology to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent; to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism; and to solve national problems in defense, energy, environment and infrastructure.