Nancy Kranich has just released an excellent report, Special Projects on The Information Commons. Excerpt: "The technology that enables unfettered access is just as capable of restricting personal information choices and the free flow of ideas. The dream of a high-tech society is now threatened by the perils of a highly controlled society. To protect our most precious right in a democratic society - the right of free speech and inquiry - we must develop a more balanced public policy. The information commons is a crucial part of this quest to preserve free expression in the digital age." She closes the report with this wonderful quotation from James Madison (Letter to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822):
A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy ... [A] people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
