From Theresa M. Matuza: 'I have hepatitis C....I was unable to sustain a response [to medication], and my viral load mushroomed 3 months after completion of the course of treatment. So, once again, I begin my search for new treatment options. Thanks to the full-text articles available on the Internet, I was able to choose a well-informed doctor.... I do not always understand all of what I read, but then, I don't need to. My doctor explains what I don't understand, discusses the options intelligently with me, gives me his professional opinion, and then the choice is mine....If I am responsible for my own healthcare, and my money is funding the research I need to peruse in order to make an informed decision, why should I pay, yet again, to get it? As a taxpayer in the United States, of all countries, I feel that the information should be at my disposal. Information on research and clinical trials is invaluable to me; unfortunately, it is also unaffordable. I rely on what I consider "public access medicine." I don't want the opinions of a commentator; I don't want to learn about advances in sound bites on the 6-o'clock news. I want to learn about them from the doctors who developed them. I paid them to do it, and I feel that it is my right to employ the fruits of their efforts.'
From Karen Shashok: 'Inevitably, publishers, repackagers, and other content providers will have to face reality and find some other way to make their bundle. It was just a historical accident that they got to clean up for about 50 years anyway. Now the times are changing. Access to knowledge and information is a human right, and as researchers and research evaluation agencies realize this, they will be increasing favor for open access publications, I hope. No need to feel sorry for publishers! They'll think up some other way to keep on making tons of money from science -- that's what their directors are for.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/18/2005 10:28:00 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.
