On Wednesday 15 June the research information system IRIS was formally opened in Þjóðarbókhlaða, the library building at Arngrímsgata 3. Speeches were given by Sara Stef. Hildardóttir, IRIS project manager, who opened the website; Berglind Fanndal Káradóttir, project manager at RANNÍS; National Librarian Ingibjörg Steinunn Sverrisdóttir; and Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
IRIS (The Icelandic Research Information System) is an information system based on the PURE software from Elsevier. It shows the research activity of the Icelandic universities and institutions that are members of it. The opening of the system increases the visibility of, overview of and access to information on research in Iceland, and so marks a milestone. The National and University Library of Iceland runs IRIS; the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture bought the system and gave the Library overall responsibility for it.
IRIS makes it possible to see research activity and how the knowledge created by research in Iceland spreads through society. Users can look at the research output of individual institutions and of scholars, artists and scientists, as well as their part in international collaboration. IRIS is an information system in development and will change as the project goes on.
At the opening, all of Iceland’s universities are members of the system, as are Landspítali (the National University Hospital), the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies and the Institute for Experimental Pathology at Keldur, University of Iceland. The aim is that all public research institutions will be members within a few years.