eJDS: Free On-line Access to Scientific Knowledge

This paper discusses a concrete attempt to bridge the digital divide by applying low-cost open source information technologies to allow developing-world scientists to search and download selected scientific articles using e-mail only and/or via Web/e-mail gateways. The free eJournals Delivery Service (eJDS) of the Abdus Salam ICTP is introduced (www.ejds.org), which is made possible through agreements with several important scientific publishing companies and societies who provide the eContents for free. This successful model could well be adopted for the alternative delivery of eBooks and expanded to other disciplines beyond physics.