Here is a further excerpt from Peter Suber's Open Access News (with
thanks also to Charles Bailey for producing a generic cut/paste text
that all US citizens can send to their senators in support of the NIH
Green Open Access Self-Archiving Mandate):
Note to US citizens
The American Library Association has created an action alert
to simplify the process of asking your Senators to support the
strengthening of the NIH policy. However, it doesn't contain a
default message and requires users to compose their own or paste
one in.
http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=10301446
Charles Bailey has solved this problem with a strong, ready-to-paste
message based on public texts (in particular, this one and this one)
by the ALA, ARL, ATA, and SPARC .
http://www.digital-scholarship.org/other/nihtext.htm
No more excuses. If you're a US citizen, please contact your
Senators before September 28, and please spread the word to others.
(Thanks, Charles!)
Peter Suber, Open Access News
For the original hyperlinked version of Peter's posting:
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2007/09/note-to-us-citizens.html
On Thu, 13 Sep 2007, Stevan Harnad wrote:
> Here is a important message from the American Alliance for Taxpayer
> Access, posted in Peter Suber's Open Access News, about the need for US
> citizens to contact their senators in order to support the NIH Green OA
> Self-Archiving Mandate against the anti-OA publishing
> lobby:http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2007/09/time-to-contact-senate.ht
> ml
>
> Time to contact the Senate
>
> An alert from the Alliance for Taxpayer Access:
> As the Senate considers Appropriations measures for the 2008 fiscal year
> this fall, please take a moment to remind your Senators of your strong
> support for public access to publicly funded research and specifically
> ensuring the success of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public
> Access Policy by making deposit mandatory for researchers.
>
> Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives passed legislation with
> language that directs the NIH to make this change. The Senate
> Appropriations Committee approved a similar measure. Now, as the
> Appropriations process moves forward, it is critically important that our
> Senators are reminded of the breadth and depth of support for enhanced
> public access to the results of NIH-funded research. Please take a moment
> to weigh in with your Senator now.
>
> Contact information for your Senator is here. Please fax a letter with
> your support no later than Friday, September 28, 2007.
>
> Feel free to draw upon the following talking points:
> ? American taxpayers are entitled to open access on the Internet
> to the peer-reviewed scientific articles on research funded by the U.S.
> government. Widespread access to the information contained in these
> articles is an essential, inseparable component of our nation's investment
> in science.
> ? The Fiscal Year 2008 Labor/HHS Appropriations Bill reported out
> of committee contains language directing the National Institutes of Health
> (NIH) to change its Public Access Policy so that it requires NIH-funded
> researchers to deposit copies of agency-funded research articles into the
> National Library of Medicine's online archive.
> ? Over the more than two years since its implementation, the
> NIH's current voluntary policy has failed to achieve any of the agency's
> stated goals, attaining a deposit rate of less than 5% by individual
> researchers. A mandate is required to ensure deposit in NIH's online
> archive of articles describing findings of all research funded by the
> agency.
> ? We urge the Senate to support the inclusion of language put
> forth in the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill directing the NIH to implement
> a mandatory policy and ensuring free, timely access to all research
> articles stemming from NIH-funded research without change in any
> appropriate vehicle.
> (We'll be making additional resources for patient advocates including
> the recording of our August 30 Web cast and specific talking points
> available shortly as well. Watch the ATA Web site or email me directly for
> updates.)
>
> Again, please take a moment to express your support for public access to
> research to your Senator as soon as possible and no later than September
> 28. As always, we'd appreciate it if you'd let us know of what action
> you're able to take, or send a copy your letter to the ATA through (202)
> 872-0884 (fax). Thank you!
>
> Comments by Peter Suber:
>
> Publisher associations are lobbying hard against this bill. For example,
> the AAP/PSP launched PRISM, the behemoth Copyright Alliance weighed in,
> and Elsevier hired another lobbying firm. It's critical that we show the
> Senate our support for a stronger OA policy at the NIH. If you're a US
> citizen, please contact your Senators and spread the word to others who
> could do so.
>
> I've omitted the list of Senators with their fax numbers, but it's in the
> ATA message if you need it. For other kinds of contact info for your
> Senators (DC office, DC phone, local offices, local phones, email), use
> CongressMerge. Remember to act before September 28!
>
> Peter Suber
Received on Tue Sep 18 2007 - 13:40:13 BST