...One argument I don't hear being made very frequently is that OA is perfect for ethnographers working abroad. Few of the people with whom we collaborate "in the field" have access to [American Anthropological Association publications] but many do have some form of Internet access....OA makes it relatively easy for people with whom we work to look at some of the things we have published "about them."
Of course, the same argument can be made in local communities. But I think it's more forceful a concept when applied to "remote communities." It might sound too "Crisis of Representation circa 1990" but I personally see benefits to making our writings available to people who can relate to them. After all, such a practise goes well with both the spirit and the letter of our codes of ethics....
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/21/2007 01:45:00 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.
