SPIE Digital Library Now Available to High Schools, Two-Year Colleges at No or Low Cost

BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwired - Nov 24, 2014) - One of the most extensive, widely cited digital libraries in the dynamic field of optics and photonics is now available to high school and junior college students and faculty at no or very low cost. SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, announced today that it is making access to the complete SPIE Digital Library available to high schools for free and two-year colleges at a subsidized price.

"Light-based photonics technologies enable applications such as communications, healthcare, community safety, entertainment, clean energy, and manufacturing, providing noninvasive diagnostic tools, food safety sensors, smartphone technology, and much more," said SPIE Director of Publications Eric Pepper. "These technologies will continue to drive countless new innovations that will touch our lives in the future. So it is very gratifying to help inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers, and inventors, and to help more young people achieve rewarding careers through which they can make a positive difference."

The new program is aligned with the not-for-profit society's mission to ensure affordable access to its publications to the greatest number of researchers possible, Pepper said.

SPIE also provides free or low cost SPIE Digital Library access to institutions in eligible countries through the INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) program, and to researchers in participating countries through the eJDS (electronics Journals Delivery Service) program of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).

The SPIE Digital Library contains more than 420,000 articles from SPIE journals and proceedings, as well as more than 200 eBooks. Abstracts are freely searchable, and an increasing number of full articles in the society's 10 peer-reviewed journals are published with open access. Approximately 18,000 new research papers, eBooks, and other publications are added each year.

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The Society serves nearly 256,000 constituents from approximately 155 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional networking, and patent precedent. SPIE provided more than $3.2 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2013.