It seems entirely appropriate that Peter Suber, who has energised the
campaign for open access to scholarly works, should have written the best
article so far on this topic.
The article is directed at librarians, but can be read and enjoyed even by
those who think they may have read it all before.
Peter's list of advantages of open access for libraries is quite
compelling. If there is a muted response, it may be because the initial
reaction is 'what is there left to do?'. The answer is all that librarians
are best at, helping people to find what they need, rather than policing
the barriers.
Steve Hitchcock
Open Citation (OpCit) Project <
http://opcit.eprints.org/>
IAM Research Group, Department of Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Email: sh94r_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)23 8059 3256 Fax: +44 (0)23 8059 2865
>Peter Suber, "Removing the Barriers to Research: An Introduction to Open
>Access for Librarians," forthcoming from _College & Research Libraries_,
>64 (February 2003) pp. 92-94, 113. The print version will be slightly
>abridged.
>
>This online version is unabridged.
>http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/acrl.htm
>
>You're accustomed to seeing open access defended for the audience of
>researchers: as readers, they get easier access to the literature they
>need, and as authors, they get a larger audience and greater impact.
>
>But in this article I explain and defend open access for the audience of
>librarians. I argue that for librarians there are two overriding problems
>with the present journal system: intolerably high prices and intolerably
>extensive limitations on use created by licenses and DRM --or in short,
>the pricing crisis and what I call the permission crisis. I argue that
>open access will solve both problems efficiently, completely, and lawfully.
>
> Peter
>
>
>
>----------
>Peter Suber, Professor of Philosophy
>Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, 47374
>Email peters_at_earlham.edu
>Web http://www.earlham.edu/~peters
>
>Editor, Free Online Scholarship Newsletter
>http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/
>Editor, FOS News blog
>http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html
Received on Wed Jan 22 2003 - 12:00:05 GMT