E-LIS is short for Eprints in Library and Information Science. It is an international open archive for scientific papers in library and information science.

Established in 2003, E-LIS is an international open archive for library and information science. Being the first international e-server in this area, E-LIS is organised, managed and maintained by an international team of librarians, with different backgrounds. The open archive resulted from the RCLIS (Research in Computing, Library and Information Science) project and the DoIS (Documents in Information Science), promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and hosted by AEPIC team on machines of the Italian Consorzio Interuniversitario Lombardo per Elaborazione Automatica (CILEA).

Being a not-for-profit/non-commercial project, it is freely accessible and users are able to search and access full-text documents. Searching and archiving in E-LIS are totally free for any user. It is based on the philosophy and principles of Open Source Initiative in computing whereby people from all over the world co-operate in building software for the public domain. Its aim is to further the Open Access philosophy by making full text LIS documents visible, accessible, harvestable, searchable, and usable by any potential user with access to the Internet.

Mission

The objectives of the E-LIS archive are:

• To improve knowledge of the building and management of open archives working practically in the field within the framework of Open Digital Libraries;
• Not only to promote open archives in various disciplinary environments, but also to create a valid and credible model in LIS discipline for the building of a world Library and Information Science archive;
• To establish a base for communal work between librarians information technology professionals, and to enhance the Open Access movement.

Author rights and responsibilities

LIS researchers, librarians, students and research institutions are invited to search, and participate by depositing their own work. Articles, presentations and papers can be in any language (abstracts and keywords should be also in English). Preferred formats are .pdf and .html, best suited for later retrieval. Statistical information regarding viewing and downloading is provided.

All works deposited in the E-LIS server remain the property of the author. Authors who submit work are responsible for the documents they archive. Authors have to ensure that the intellectual property of their deposited work is theirs and that no restrictions exist for digital distribution of the deposited work. The quality of the metadata of the submission is controlled by country editors.