WorldWideScience.orgBETA allows users to conduct a single query of over 70 scientific databases from around the world.  Results can then be translated into the user’s preferred language.  Currently, nine languages are available (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian) and more languages will be added in the coming months.  With the pace of non-English scientific publishing continuing to grow, it is vitally important that English-speaking scientists gain access to non-English content.  Conversely, Multilingual WorldWideScience.orgBETA also benefits non-English-speaking users by enabling translations of English-language content.

Since its inception in 2007, WorldWideScience.org has grown from searching 12 databases in 10 countries to searching over 70 databases in 66 countries, covering more than 400 million pages of science. OSTI serves as the Operating Agent for WorldWideScience.org, and as the product manager, I have been enormously honored to lead this project over the past three years.  From the beginning, the goal behind WorldWideScience.org has been to broaden access to the world’s scientific information and to facilitate the scientific discovery process.  With each new database that has been added to WorldWideScience.org’s searches, a new door of opportunity has been opened.  The launch of Multilingual WorldWideScience.orgBETA represents a culmination of over a year’s work, and has been particularly fulfilling on both a professional and personal level.  I am grateful for the participation of Microsoft Research and Deep Web Technologies, along with our WorldWideScience Alliance members, and I look forward to continued collaboration for many years to come.

Lorrie Apple Johnson, WorldWideScience.org Product Manager