BioMed Central is a commercial publisher of peer-reviewed scientific research that permits open (= free) access to all of its content. In so doing, it happens to exemplify a whole bunch of trends, many of which are associated with "Web 2.0." It is not a voice from the future, describing visions we cannot yet imagine. It's in some ways more valuable than that, for it's an existing business, dealing with the future in practical ways. In it we can see not just where the Web may go, but where it is right now: ...
[U]nlike most scientific journals, at BMC readers don't pay. Why not? Because putting knowledge behind a wall with a slot for dollar bills makes our species stupider. And given the economic differences in the ability to pay, it cuts off too much of the world. So, BMC's business model incorporates a sense of responsibility to the community, not just to the investors....
BMC makes its processes as transparent as possible....
BMC...urges scientists to publish their raw data so that others can mine it for knowledge....
BMC makes the reliability of its information apparent....
BMC provides a mix of top-down and bottom-up metadata....
BMC "intertwingles" its content, spinning a Web of links....
It has lots of feeds....
BMC experiments....
BMC does not pretend it's perfect....
It's not just open, it's generous....[Openness] encourages others to take content and make more of it. Generosity has built the Web....
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/11/2007 10:26:00 PM.
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.