On 5 Dec 2006, at 13:14, Donat Agosti wrote:
> If one looks a bit into the future (I mean just
> beyond OA as such), then any kind of such roadblocks disrupt a
> potential
> seamless knowledgebase (all the oa journals, and the underlying
> primary
> data) which, in a Web2.0 environment can be mined, data extracted
> from, etc.
> It also opens up science to a much wider community which is not
> controlled
> by arbitrary rules (eg OARE, AGORA, HINARI) or the goodwill of
> individual
> scientists.
> I think, this aspect is ultimately the legitimation of why open
> access is of
> paramount importance for the future of science.
> Open access as a necessary stepping stone for the future.
I completely agree - Open Access is not the end of a road, merely the
beginning. Or a staging post along the way, since access to
scientific research began several centuries ago! Scientists and
researchers don't want access for access sake, they want it for the
sake of research. New analysis and visualisation services that help
researchers to better comprehend the emerging literature and its
relationship with the existing literature and the roles of the
authors and institutions in the research environment will help
enormously. It is terribly important that we don't just stop at
"access", "searching" and "awareness" services!
--
Les Carr
Received on Wed Dec 06 2006 - 10:00:00 GMT