... Collins's confirmation proceeded via unanimous consent, without the need for a hearing in the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions or a roll-call vote on the Senate floor. ...
... Collins has been a public advocate for OA to data, most notably in the Human Genome Project, which he lead. Even if that wasn't the case, simply having a permanent director at NIH will enable the agency to better explain its public access policy -- such as defending against the Conyers bill and supporting FRPAA. ...
We can be thankful that the Senate confirmed the nomination, and quickly. If there's any drawback, it's that the lack of a hearing means a missed chance for Collins to explain his views on OA to Congress and the public in a high-profile forum. But once he takes office, there should be many more such chances.
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.
