The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) has launched a three-year fundraising campaign to assure its long-term survival as a high-quality, peer-reviewed, open-access encyclopedia. SEP is asking libraries attached to institutions with philosophy degree programs to make three annual contributions to an SEP endowment. These contributions can be classified as subscriptions, donations, or memberships, depending on what local policies permit. If enough libraries participate, then SEP will meet its goal on time and will be OA forever after. If the SEP fails in the future, the endowment will be dissolved and donors will get pro-rated refunds. The benefit for libraries is that they will pay much less this way than if SEP had to adopt a subscription-based access model. The benefit for users is that this first-rate OA resource will remain OA and have the funds it needs to continue to grow at its present level of quality. If it works, SEP will be the first OA resource supported by an endowment. The plan includes contributions from Stanford University, a matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and assistance from ICOLC, SOLINET, and SPARC. For more details, see the ICOLC Call to Action.
(PS: I'm excited in part because I've always thought that endowments are the most secure and sustainable form of OA funding, even if they are the hardest to build. This plan already has the support of the host institution, major library groups, and the major funder in the field. It has a real shot at success and could make endowments a realistic possibility for other OA resources as well. Moreover, the SEP has proved its value over time and deserves this commitment and support. Online and OA since 1995, edited by Ed Zalta, and peer-reviewed by the Stanford philosophy department, the SEP pioneered the idea that published encyclopedia articles can be updated in real time to keep pace with the changing state of scholarship.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/10/2004 02:07:00 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.
