Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Thursday, May 22, 2008

A call on Oberlin to follow the Harvard example

A New Approach to Scholarship Access, The Oberlin Review, February 29, 2008.  An editorial.  (Thanks to Ray English.)  Excerpt:

In a move that will ensure the fair dissemination of mental wealth, Harvard’s arts and sciences faculty recently voted to make all of its faculty research articles available online free of charge....It would be a bold, but necessary, move for Oberlin to follow suit.

Open access is right in line with Oberlin’s aspirations for equality....As goes the tree that falls in the middle of the woods, so goes research and information. What good is it doing locked up for only the elite few to ever even have the opportunity to read? ...

Understandably, the transition to open access could be difficult. It is likely that some faculty will have to choose between posting their work for free and publishing in journals that sometimes demand sole publishing rights. But these demands will wane as more and more forward-thinking schools get on board. This topic is on the agenda at the upcoming General Faculty Library Committee, and it could lead to a discussion among the entire faculty. Oberlin faculty, information should be free. Let us make it that way.