Re: Access-Denial, Impact-Denial and the Developing and Developed World

From: Brehm, Sharon Stephens <sbrehm_at_indiana.edu>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 22:15:23 +0000

Dear Prof. Harnad, I very much appreciate your including me in the
American Scientist Open Access Forum. I continue to follow this discussion
with great interest.

Although there are many benefits from OA, I am particularly interested
in the impact OA would have on educational and economic development in
transitional societies.

When I had the opportunity to visit some university libraries in India and
Africa, it was clear to me that they could never catch up with the library
world as we used to know it in the US and Europe. Without continuous
air-conditioning, paper disintegrates amazingly quickly. And even with
reliable air-conditioning, the library resources that so many American and
European university libraries take for granted are beyond their financial
reach.

Obviously, having materials available electronically solves much of the
first problem (if you need a print copy, it's much easier to maintain
adequate climate control for a small room with a set of printers than
for an entire library) and the more OA there is, the more rapidly
the second problem is addressed.

I also wonder, however, if at least transitionally, we might need a sort
of global OhioLINK to facilitate sharing those electronic resources that
are not yet OA and providing access to materials that are not available
electronically. (OhioLINK is the state-wide consortium of Ohio's college
and university libraries along with the State Library of Ohio).

In these complicated and troubled times, I cannot think of a better
project than for the rich countries to give their intellectual capital
away in order to raise the level of education and development around
the world.

OA is a vital step in that direction and I applaud you for your dedication
to its realization. Best regards, Sharon

*************************************
Sharon S. Brehm
Professor of Psychology
Indiana University Bloomington
sbrehm_at_indiana.edu
Received on Sun Mar 14 2004 - 22:15:23 GMT