The International Council for Science (ICSU) is a non-governmental organisation founded in 1931 to bring together natural scientists in an international scientific endeavour. It comprises 98 multi-disciplinary National Scientific Members (scientific research councils or science academies) and 26 international, single-discipline Scientific Unions to provide a wide spectrum of expertise enabling members to address major international, interdisciplinary issues, which none could handle alone.

The Council seeks to break the barriers of specialisation by initiating and coordinating major international interdisciplinary programmes and by creating interdisciplinary bodies, which undertake activities and research programmes of interest to several members. A number of bodies set up within ICSU also address matters of common concern to all scientists, such as capacity building in science, environment and development and the free conduct of science.

In its last Newsletter, ICSU presented its International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) initiative. There is much concern within transitional and developing countries that the gap between those who have access to information and those who do not is widening. There is also an increased recognition of the vital role that information and knowledge can play in development and of the potential for the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) within this.

Where individual purchasing power is limited, libraries and other service models have a unique role to play in access to, dissemination of and also in ‘re-packaging’ information in a form appropriate to the needs of users. It was as a direct response to calls for partnership in tackling these challenges that the INASP was established in 1992, under the auspices of the Committee on the Dissemination of Scientific Information (CDSI/ICSU Press).

INASP’s aim is to improve worldwide access to information and knowledge through a commitment to capacity building in transitional and developing countries. Special emphasis is placed on working collaboratively, and INASP’s role is one of facilitation, sharing of skills and providing support or advice in response to requests. The Network has grown from an informal grouping of some 40 interested programmes to a fully-fledged Network with over 350 supporting organisations and agencies, and over 1000 partner libraries and institutions throughout the transitional and developing world. INASP’s three immediate objectives are:

• to promote in-country capacity building in information production, access and dissemination
• to map, support and strengthen existing activities promoting access to and dissemination of scientific and scholarly information and knowledge
• to identify, encourage and support new initiatives that will increase local publication and general access to high quality scientific and scholarly materials

For more details about this project contact Carol Priestley:
INASP,
27, Park End Street
Oxford, OX1 1HU
UK
Tel: +44 1865 249909
Fax: +44 1865 251060
E-mail: inasp@gn.apc.org
Web site: www.inasp.org.uk