SPi Global has largest archive of STM Content
Laguna, Philippines—25 March 2011. In today’s information-driven environment, content is king. At SPi Global, this content pushes the frontiers and boundaries of exploration, discovery and application in the field of medicine, science and health. Through it’s partnerships with the two largest scholarly publishers in the world - Elsevier Science and Springer, SPi Global today houses the largest archive of STM (Scientific, Technical, and Medical) content. To date, SPi Global digitized more than 75 million pages.
Elsevier required imaging, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), data entry, proofreading, and conversion of 40 million pages of content. This is considered to be one of the largest conversion projects undertaken in STM publishing. Virgil Sangalang, operations director, says, “At the peak of this project we had 1,100 full-time employees and were delivering more than 1 million pages per month.”
Sangalang explains the process of digital conversion includes scanning of hard copies and film/fiche materials. “Data can also be captured through manual data entry,” adds Sangalang. This is processed either as SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) or XML (Extensible Markup Language) which allows text to be structured according to specific formats required by SPi’s different clients. “Elsevier Science requires us to digitize in XML format,” explains Sangalang.
SPi Global and Elsevier Science worked together to build one of the largest online repositories of STM content for delivery via the publishers’ online portal. Journals and other published content serves more than 30 million scientists, students, health professionals and medical researchers. This content is also used by pharmaceutical companies and research institutions around the world.
It takes 10 hours for at least 8 full-time employees (FTE) to finish one issue of a medical or professional trade journal or publication. This can have an average of issue 110 to 120 pages.
SPi Global also works with Springer, one of the leading global scientific publishers and a trusted provider of local-language professional publications in Europe. More than 35 million pages have been digitized to date.
SPi Global President and Chief Executive Officer Maulik Parekh say, “These digitized content help many professionals in medicine, science to access relevant information in their respective disciplines. It also helps students, professors and researchers read and review the latest, updated information.” Parekh explains that while the Internet provides easy, accessible information, STM-related content needs to come from the best minds around the globe. “This knowledge comes from many of the world’s respected authorities and experts. And SPi Global is proud to be part of this process of providing professionals around the world with easy access to the most up-to-date, authoritative information.”
These partnerships with Elsevier and Springer are solid proofs of SPi Global’s commitment as the largest Filipino-owned BPO company to further the country’s leadership positioning in the global outsourcing industry.
SPi Global Laguna has been in operations since 2001. At present, the facility houses a total of 900 employees. It supports new and existing client programs for SPi Global's Content Solutions business unit, offering services, like SGML/XML conversion; eBook production; eContent production; transaction processing; data analysis; scanning and image processing; video coding; and archiving.
About SPi Global
SPi Global is a leading full-service BPO provider with offices and facilities across North America, Europe, and Asia. SPi has over 15,000 employees delivering a wide range of Knowledge Process and Customer Relationship Management solutions to diversified markets, including financial services, healthcare, legal, and publishing. SPi consistently improves operating efficiency, lowers costs, and helps to strengthen the competitive position of more than 500 clients.
SPi is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), the leading telecommunications provider in the Philippines. PLDT is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE: TEL), and its American Depository Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:PHI).
Contact : Celeste Ilagan
Vice President
External Relations & Corporate Communications
SPi Global
+639189906140
[email protected]