...[T]he free flow of knowledge remains essential for development of all societies....
One major challenge facing many developing countries is that their researchers have very little access to contemporary scientific literature....
Because many researchers in developing countries face an unreliable electricity supply, poor Internet connections, as well as a lack adequate computer equipment, appropriate software, and even technological expertise..., the opportunities to get their research into the international arena is severely compromised....
Human Technology: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Humans in ICT Environments has, from its very inception, envisioned open access to knowledge and collaboration among multiple disciplines as its key benefits. Funding from the Agora Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, has allowed, so far, articles from around the world to be considered, peer-reviewed, accepted, and published without the need for author-funded page fees and for the content of all articles to be fully available to individuals in higher education and industry no matter what the economic status of a researcher’s country....
Of course, publishing a journal does take financial resources. Therefore all open access journals remain ever challenged in maintaining the necessary funding flow. But we at Human Technology know the vital role we play in serving the scientific community, and so we continue to pursue the means it takes to allow researchers, no matter what their financial circumstances, to submit quality articles....We can’t fully resolve the complexity of the technical, material, and access...issues of the digital divide faced by researchers in developing countries. But we can—and do—address some of the strain by lifting somewhat the burdens of access to quality research and in providing the opportunity for any knowledgeable researcher to contribute to the international discussion....
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/08/2007 11:35:00 AM.
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.
