From my perspective, this announcement is very helpful and welcome,
and I am glad to see it on this list.
There are two approaches to open access, archives (green) and journals
(gold), and a list that covers both is more useful than a list which
focuses only on one. This is true even for those who have a strong
preference for one approach or the other.
How so?
If we assume that the OA archives (green) approach should be a first
priority, it still makes a lot of sense to see the Springer Helmholtz
agreement as a very useful interim step. As all of us who have
followed the Am Sci discussion list over the years know very well, one
of the major obstacles to green OA mandates has been publisher
opposition. Having a major publisher like Springer takes important
steps like this towards open access at once changes the conversation,
as does cooperation from a group like Helmholtz.
So congrats to Springer and Helmholtz!
Heather Morrison, MLIS
PhD Student, SFU School of Communication
http://pages.cmns.sfu.ca/heather-morrison/
Received on Tue Aug 24 2010 - 01:27:45 BST