Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has donated $100 million to create the open-access Allen Brain Atlas. Quoting the press release: "Through a collection of gene expression maps, brain circuitry and cell location, the Atlas will illustrate the functional anatomy of the brain. Building a publicly-accessible research tool that overlays structural imagery of the brain with specific details about the locations and functions of active genes will be carried out on an unprecedented scale, representing an immense advance in brain science." More press coverage. (PS: This is clearly the most expensive open-access development project ever launched and funded. Kudos to Paul Allen, not only for funding a project that no other funder could handle, but for realizing that the resulting knowledge will be more useful when openly shared than when locked up and metered for paying customers.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/22/2003 07:28:00 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.
