BioMed Central has ceased publishing Open Access Now, its very useful and well-produced newsletter on OA initiatives, people, news, and comment. It went through 23 issues. From the web site: 'Open Access Now was launched by BioMed Central in 2003 as a newsletter to raise awareness about open access. Since then, open access has truly come of age and has acquired unstoppable momentum. As a result of this success, Open Access Now is no longer being published but the archive remains available. For the latest news on the open access movement, we recommend Peter Suber's excellent Open Access blog. Also, don't forget to register to receive regular updates from BioMed Central.'
(PS: A personal note. I agree that OA has unstoppable momentum --I document it every day. Nevertheless, I will miss Open Access Now for more than one reason. It did wonderful interviews. It did very useful profiles of OA initiatives, one in each issue. It was professionally guided by editor Jonathan Weitzman. It benefited from BMC's publishing infrastructure and looked great online. It was friendly competition for my own blog and newsletter. Above all, OA is growing so rapidly that it needs more voices and perspectives, not fewer. Pulling together the many developments that make up the OA movement, analyzing them, and sharing the results free online for all who want to follow isn't just retrospective understanding. It's the ground and stimulus for future action.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/15/2005 11:36:00 AM.
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.
