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Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers, has

put two of its reference works online with a scheme to charge

subscription fees for access.

Research infomediary ingenta has developed web sites for the

Encyclopedias of Astronomy and Astrophysics (www.ency-astro.com) and

Life Sciences (www.els.net).

The Life Sciences web site was developed for around pounds 500,000 and

the NPG charges organisations between pounds 1,000 and pounds 1,500 per

year depending on the number of users that will have access.

"We have developed this resource because a lot of scientists are getting

information overload," said Natasha Robshaw, marketing manager at

NPG.

"The sites provide a single point of reference where scientists and

students can go for information."

The sites target professional scientists, universities, third year and

post-graduate students and researchers. The promotion drive includes

banners on www.nature.com and a direct mail push to academics and

librarians.

Robshaw added that the web sites have been designed to be

community-oriented.

They offer news pieces and around 3,000 specially commissioned articles,

provided by around 5,000 scientists from around the world, glossary

sections and links to related sites.

Teachers can build tutorial and coursework areas and users can create

personal pages.

Since launching in May, the company has acquired around 200 subscribers

including Cambridge University, Imperial and King's colleges in

London.

The resource is being trialed by GlaxoSmithKline, Astra-Zeneca, Novartis

and Max Planck, among others.