The Virtual Academic Library Environment (VALE) program is made available through an agreement with ScienceDirect®, the world's largest Wed-based database containing nearly 1200 full text journals from Elsevier Science and the leading scientific, medical and technical publishers.

"Adding ScienceDirect to VALE is a major coup," the Governor said. "I'm convinced and I know you are convinced, that education is going to determine who succeeds in the global economy. We have to make our campuses here in this state the very best that they can be."

"With the Virtual Academic Learning Environment (VALE), New Jersey's institutions of higher learning will be equipped with the best technology to prepare our students for the new Millennium," said Congressman Bob Menendez (D-NJ). "The New Jersey Institute of Technology is an anchor in our effort to empower New Jersey residents, creating a vibrant educational atmosphere in the heart of Newark."

Menendez added: "Access to information and the ability to use technology effectively are becoming increasingly important to fully participate in America's economic, political, and social life. It's a matter of those who have access to the tools of the Information Age and those who don't. That's why I will continue to make sure New Jersey's students become active participants in the new workforce. And that's why VALE is so important to improving our students' education."

NJIT was a leader in establishing the consortium. NJIT University Librarian Richard Sweeney, a member of the VALE Executive Board, was a prime mover in negotiating the agreement. Last year, NJIT was the only New Jersey institution of higher learning to contract with Elsevier for access to portions of ScienceDirect. Through the consortium, NJIT library users will have access to more than ten times the number of expensive scholarly science journals for far less money. The 15 institutions will share the annual subscription cost of $140,000.

NJIT is a public research university enrolling more than 8,800 bachelor's, master's and doctoral students in 80 degree programs through its five colleges: Newark College of Engineering, New Jersey School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, the School of Management and the Albert Dorman Honors College. Research initiatives include transportation planning, manufacturing, microelectronics, multimedia, computer science, solar astrophysics, environmental engineering and science, and architecture and building science.

NJIT has been named for five consecutive years as one of the nation's Top 5 "most wired" universities, according to YAHOO! Internet Life magazine. U.S. News and World Report's 2000 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT among the nation's top universities, and Money magazine's most recent issue of "Best College Buys" rated NJIT as the sixth best value among U.S. science and technology schools. In 1999, Mademoiselle ranked NJIT as the second most Internet-connected university in the nation.