As part of the Al Sharaka Program for Higher Education in Iraq, an important initiative undertaken by USAID and universities making up the Oklahoma Higher Education Partners, all non-commercial institutions in Iraq have instant access to a wealth of information through participation by EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO).

Al Sharaka has partnered with EBSCO such that Iraqi universities, schools and public libraries gain unlimited online access to complete articles from thousands of journals, magazines, reference books, country reports and other information sources covering virtually every subject area. This critical information is available in specific databases through the Web-based research system, EBSCOhost^®. From business and financial information to psychological and sociological literature, to the hard sciences of chemistry, physics, medicine, engineering and much more, EBSCOhost provides access to the world's most valued information sources for any university, school or public library researcher. Databases available to institutions in Iraq include: Academic Search™ Premier, Business Source^® Premier, MasterFILE™ Premier, MEDLINE^® and the Ultra Online Package™.

The Al Sharaka Program has been carefully designed to meet critical needs of Iraqi higher education. The approach of the program is to apply a focused set of activities that have been vetted with the Iraqis to meet higher education needs at national, campus, and program levels. In addition to the databases made available through the partnership with EBSCO, Al Sharaka also provides: President's Workshops for all Iraqi university presidents that culminates with a conference at the University of Oklahoma; Support for administrative initiatives; Computers, reliable internet access, and technical learning centers; Support for Iraqi university libraries to rebuild their collections; Online coursework for medical students; Assistance in establishing a small ruminant science lab; Support for archaeology and cultural tourism programs; Distribution of electronic materials for multimedia curriculum in engineering classes; GIS and remote sensing training, and more.

According to Tim Collins, vice president and division general manager for EBSCO Publishing, the company is delighted to be able to lend a hand with such a worthy initiative. Collins noted, "There is much to be restored from recent devastation in Iraq. We are excited to be a part of this higher education restoration, and honored to work with Al Sharaka."

EBSCO Subscription Services, EBSCO Publishing and EBSCO Book Services form the EBSCO Information Services group. EBSCO is a worldwide leader in providing information access and management solutions through print and electronic journal subscription services, research database development and production, online access to approximately 150 databases and thousands of e-journals, and e-commerce book procurement. EBSCO has specialized products and services for academic, medical, government, public and school libraries as well as for corporations and other organizations. EBSCO maintains a comprehensive database of more than 282,000 serial titles and upholds active relationships with more than 60,000 publishers worldwide. 2004 marks EBSCO's 60th year of serving the library and business communities. For more information, visit www.ebsco.com.

Contact: Scott Bernier (800) 653-2726, ext. 278 sbernier@epnet.com Al Sharaka Contact: Erin Taylor Weathers (4050) 325-5461 etweathers@ou.edu

Release Date: April 8, 2004