Contacts:
Gloria Gottschalk, New School University
212-229-5667, ext. 239
[email protected]

Lauren Erlichman
212-229-5667, ext. 206
[email protected]

NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY’S JOURNAL DONATION PROJECT (JDP) TO RECEIVE $500,000 GRANT FROM THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION TO EXPAND PROGRAM TO NIGERIA

(New York, NY – June 29, 2001) The Journal Donation Project (JDP), a program administered within New School University’s Graduate Faculty, has received a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation to expand the project to Nigeria. Launched in 1990 by New School University Professor Arien Mack, Editor of the quarterly Social Research, the JDP began as a response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the need to rebuild the region’s libraries. Over the past ten years, the JDP has grown from a small project, based entirely on the donation of subscriptions, into a major library assistance program, providing nearly 100,000 donated and reduced-cost subscriptions annually to approximately 400 libraries throughout 27 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. This grant will allow the first expansion of the project to the Africa continent.

"We are delighted to receive such a generous grant from the MacArthur Foundation," says Professor Arien Mack, JDP Director. "This grant which allows us to extend the JDP to Nigeria is a major step towards reaching our long term goal of creating first rate scholarly archives in universities in Africa where they are so desperately needed. With access to the up-to-date scholarship that these journals will provide, scholars and citizens who have been so long disadvantaged by the absence of this information will more easily be able to join the international community of scholars."

The mission of the Project, which has been focussed on the development of archives for nearly a decade now, is to assist in rebuilding major research and teaching libraries throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union through the provision of current subscriptions and back volume sets to English-language scholarly, professional and current events journals.

One of the principle aims of the JDP has been to create the best possible scholarly resources at the libraries receiving support. The other primary objective has been to identify for support libraries dedicated to democratic change and the nurturing of democratic ideals. All of the National, University, Academy of Science and Public Libraries within the network are carefully selected as sites where users have the greatest possible access to the journals and where the libraries are committed to serve and extend their user communities.

Currently, 1,000 different journals are available through the JDP s reduced-cost subscription scheme, at an average discount of 65%. Moreover, approximately 600 titles continue to provide an average of 15 donated subscriptions annually. The journals are concentrated in the social sciences, humanities, law, public policy, business, education and medicine.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. The Foundation, which has had an office in Nigeria for many years, seeks the development of healthy individuals and effective communities; peace within and among nations; responsible choices about human reproduction; and a global ecosystem capable of supporting healthy human societies. The Foundation pursues this mission by supporting research, policy development, dissemination, education and training, and practice. The president of the Foundation is Jonathan F. Fanton, who assumed the post in September 1999 after 18 years as president of the New School University in New York City.

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For more information on the Journal Donation Project (JDP) log on to http://www.newschool.edu/centers/jdp.htm or contact Professor Arien Mack, Marrow Professor of Psychology at the Graduate Faculty, Editor of Social Research, and Founder and Director of the Journal Donation Project at (212) 229-5378.

The Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science awards M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology, economics, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology. In addition, interdisciplinary M.A. programs are offered in historical studies and liberal arts. The Graduate Faculty has an enrollment of about 1,050 students. International students comprise nearly 30% of the student body and come from about 70 different countries. Dr. Kenneth Prewitt, former Director of the Census Bureau, is Dean of the Graduate Faculty. For further information on the graduate Faculty, call (212) 229-5777 or go to the Web site at www.newschool.edu.

New School University, with 7,000 matriculated students and 25,000 continuing education students, is comprised of seven academic divisions: The New School, the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College, Mannes College of Music, the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, and the Actors Studio Drama School, as well as the University’s B.F.A. in Jazz and Contemporary Music. New School Online University offers one of the largest selections of online courses in the nation. For further information about admission to New School University, call (877) 528-3321 or go to the Web site at www.newschool.edu.