Richard Wray, Google puts new slant on scholarship, The Guardian, November 22, 2004. Excerpt: 'Following moves to make scientific research freely available, Google Scholar allows any internet user to search for keywords in theses, books, technical reports, university websites and even traditional academic publications....As well as improving access to research for students and professionals, Google Scholar offers a chance for the general public to get better access to scientific data....Rather than ranking results by the number of "hits" or visits they have received, Google Scholar ranks results in order of relevance, which includes the number of times the research itself has been cited by other academics. "Google tends to be quite useful but the way it displays hits means you get the hits that are most widely accessed," said Mike Joy, senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Warwick. "In an academic context, that's not what you want."...The new tool comes as a debate rages within the publishing world over so-called open access to scientific research....But until now searching for these articles has been a complex process for the general public. Google Scholar presented a significant step forward for the open access movement, said Jan Velterop, of the open access publisher BioMed Central. "We are very pleased Google have taken this step. This will really increase the access to and visibility of research deposited in repositories - it's a huge boost to the drive to provide open access to research," he added.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/21/2004 09:38:00 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.
