Visitors to Nottinghamshire libraries now have free access to a range of academic journal articles for the first time thanks to a new national scheme.

People who want to find out more about a huge range of subjects from arts to science, and education to geography will be able to read from more than 6,000 titles and 250,000 academic articles in the county’s libraries.

Some of the biggest publishers including Wiley, OUP, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, Sage and Springer are taking part in the project, which is enabling UK wide access to peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

Nottinghamshire County Council has joined the scheme alongside a number of other local authorities which is being led by the Publishers Licensing Society and Proquest. The county council’s Principal Librarian for Resources, Fiona Littlewood, has been leading the initiative.

Coun John Knight, Culture Committee chairman, said: “This is great news for anyone who wants to find out more in-depth information about a particular subject from leading academics and researchers whose work appears in peer reviewed journals and research conferences.

“It will also be good news for students of all ages to support them with whatever project they are working on to access these sorts of reading materials – whether for homework, a course assignment or research.

“It allows free access to these quality information resources for the first time with the support of the publishing industry.”

Customers will have free access to a range of academic journal articles so long as they abide by copyright agreements, and access will only be available from library premises.

For details about the initiative, visit a Nottinghamshire County Council library or go to www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/learning/libraries/computers-in-libraries/subscriptions

The initiative is supported by the Publishers Licensing Society, The Publishers Association, The Society of Chief Librarians and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.