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ScienceDirect Development Partners say program gives them inside track
Stephen Prowse
Launched in June 2006, the ScienceDirect Development Partner program illustrates Elsevier’s commitment to creating and implementing user-focused products. Currently 14 organizations, all licensing ScienceDirect, are participating in the program. Representing a mix of academic, corporate and government organizations, as well as a scholarly society, the partners advise the ScienceDirect development team on new ideas and provide vital assistance with conducting user tests of new concepts, prototypes and beta models.
Partners’ feedback about their participation in the program has been overwhelmingly positive and has identified key benefits of their involvement in the program.
Stephen Prowse, the e-journals coordinator for King’s College London, has been on board since the program’s founding. He noted, “It’s always great when library staff can get involved in shaping the design, development and philosophy of one of its major resources, be it a library management system or a database like ScienceDirect. And it’s always great when a company wants to engage its customers and users in this way. As a partner we get the inside track on features being planned and concepts being considered. But what was particularly gratifying was seeing a timetable for bringing changes into ScienceDirect arising from our testing.”
Undergraduate Library Head Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe is representing the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the program and participated in one of the program’s first projects. Remarked Lisa, “The development partner program offered an intriguing opportunity to be involved with the redevelopment of an online journal system that is of great importance to our researchers and learners. The process of user-centered design brings out user perspectives and needs that are otherwise hidden from librarians and system designers.”
“It’s always great when library staff can get involved in shaping the design, development and philosophy of one of its major resources.”
Since July 2006, the ScienceDirect Development Partner program has included the Max Planck Digital Library, represented by Dr. Ralf Schimmer. Regarding why the library got involved with the program, Max Planck Society Vice President Kurt Mehlhorn commented: "The Max Planck Society has been following the path of electronic information provision for several years and knows that excellent research is not possible without a wide information base and permanent developments in infrastructure. By collaborating with Elsevier on further enhancements to ScienceDirect, we can bring in our experience in the development phase of the platform and supply our scientists with new possibilities quickly and ideally configured."
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Participants in the ScienceDirect Development Partner program meet annually and share ideas and findings via a members-only website developed by Elsevier. Recently development partners have participated in beta testing of ScienceDirect’s new Live Chat function and advised on the rollout of the new eBooks program.
Elsevier sees the ScienceDirect Development Partner program, as well as the Scopus Development Partner program which was founded in 2004, as the most logical way to move forward in ensuring products meet customers’ needs.
“Because the use of information resources evolves so rapidly today, the best way of responding to the needs of our users is working directly with them and involving them in our product development,” stated Director of ScienceDirect Joep Verheggen. “The development partner program for us involves a permanent commitment to a dynamic partnership with the research and librarian communities.”
