PolicyArchive, the nation's first free, comprehensive, online archive of public policy research, was launched yesterday by the non-profit Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) in partnership with the Indianapolis University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) University Library and support from major U.S. charitable foundations.

PolicyArchive plans to become the largest online repository of public policy research in the world. At its launch, the archive already contains over 12,000 policy documents from over 220 think tanks and other research organizations. It will house up to 20,000 documents by the end of 2008.

"PolicyArchive builds an online bridge between the worlds of public policy research and legislative implementation," says Tracy Westen, CEO of the Center for Governmental Studies. "PolicyArchive will put high quality, current research instantly at policymakers' finger tips."

Benefits: PolicyArchive will help elected officials and their staffs, policy researchers and charitable foundations:

• Public Officials: Legislators and legislative staff too often make
  important policy decisions without access to the most recent policy
  research. PolicyArchive will make that research instantly accessible,
  and policy decisions will improve as a result.
• Researchers: Policy researchers often find it difficult to distribute
  their research to the users who need it, when they need it.
  PolicyArchive will give research contributors instant and worldwide
  access to policymakers and other researchers who can then build on
  that research.
• Foundations: Foundations spend over $1.5 billion annually on
  research-and others spend more--but too often that research is
  difficult to find or disappears altogether. PolicyArchive will make
  foundation-supported research quickly and easily available, thereby
  dramatically enhancing the value of foundation grants.

Funders: A number of major U.S. charitable foundations have supported PolicyArchive, including the California HealthCare Foundation, California Endowment, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Markle Foundation and Charles H. Revson Foundation.