The BOAI "statement of principle,...statement of strategy, and...statement of commitment" was released on February 14, 2002. It wasn't the first initiative in the OA movement, but it was the first to offer a public definition of OA, the first to use the term "open access", the first to call for OA journals and OA archives as complementary strategies, the first to call for OA in all disciplines and countries, and the first to be accompanied by significant funding. I wouldn't say that it launched the OA movement, which was already under way, but that it was one of the first significant steps to catalyze, energize, and unify the OA movement.
(Disclosure: I helped draft the BOAI and I receive support from the Open Society Institute, which funded the BOAI. I hope my high opinion of the BOAI is justified, not biased. But I gladly make this disclosure and invite you to decide for yourselves. If you think I'm biased, please write your own birthday greeting!)
Happy birthday, BOAI, and many happy returns. To all who have worked for OA worldwide, Happy Valentines Day.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/14/2008 08:36:00 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.
