The mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalonian bibliographic production and that related to the Catalonian linguistic area, to look after its conservation, and to spread its bibliographic heritage while maintaining the status of a universal center for research and consultation.
This translation of the National Library of Catalonia's mission statement makes it clear why the National Library of Barcelona, Catalonia's largest library, and four affiliate Catalonian libraries have decided to join the Google Book Search Library Project. By digitizing these libraries' out-of-copyright books, millions of people around the world will be able to trace Catalonian history and culture through centuries of text....
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.
