Editing Astrophysics Data System (section)

==Impact on astronomy==
ADS is almost universally used as a research tool among astronomers, and there are several studies that have estimated quantitatively how much more efficient ADS has made astronomy; one estimated that ADS increased the efficiency of astronomical research by 333 full-time equivalent research years per year,<ref name="overview" /> and another found that in 2002 its effect was equivalent to 736 full-time researchers, or all the astronomical research done in France.<ref name="impact">{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |author2=Eichhorn G. |author3=Accomazzi A. |author4=Grant C.S. |author5=Demleitner M. |author6=Murray S.S. |year=2005 |title=Worldwide Use and Impact of the NASA Astrophysics Data System Digital Library |journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=36–45 |arxiv=0909.4786 |bibcode=2005JASIS..56...36K |doi=10.1002/asi.20095 |s2cid=15181632}} ([http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kurtz/jasis-abstract.html Preprint])</ref> ADS has allowed literature searches that would previously have taken days or weeks to carry out to be completed in seconds, and it is estimated that ADS has increased the readership and use of the astronomical literature by a factor of about three since its inception.<ref name="impact" />

In monetary terms, this increase in efficiency represents a considerable amount. There are about 12,000 active astronomical researchers worldwide, so ADS is the equivalent of about 5% of the working population of astronomers. The global astronomical research budget is estimated at between 4,000 and US$5,000 million,<ref name="woltjer">{{cite conference |last=Woltjer |first=L. |year=1998 |title=Economic Consequences of the Deterioration of the Astronomical Environment |conference=23rd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union |book-title=Preserving The Astronomical Windows. Proceedings of Joint Discussion number 5 of the 23rd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union held in Kyoto, Japan 22–23 August 1997 |volume=139 |pages=243 |bibcode=1998ASPC..139..243W}}</ref> so the value of ADS to astronomy would be about 200–250 million USD annually. Its operating budget is a small fraction of this amount.<ref name="impact" />

The great importance of ADS to astronomers has been recognized by the [[United Nations]], the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] of which has commended ADS on its work and success, particularly noting its importance to astronomers in the developing world, in reports of the [[United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space]]. A 2002 report by a visiting committee to the Center for Astrophysics, meanwhile, said that the service had "revolutionized the use of the astronomical literature", and was "probably the most valuable single contribution to astronomy research that the CfA has made in its lifetime".<ref name="awards">{{cite web |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/about/awards.html |title=ADS Awards and Recognition |publisher=Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics |access-date=25 March 2022}}</ref>