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Libraries: 'Thanks for the NIH policy -- no rule-making please'
On February 12, eight library associations (AALL, ALA, AAHSL, ACRL, ARL, GWLA, SPARC, SLA) sent a letter of thanks for the NIH public access policy to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for health & human services, and Rep. David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the House Appropriations committee. On Feb. 14, the organizations sent the letter with some changes to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. Excerpt from the latter:
Profile of BMC journals and the business value of OA
Donna Howell, Online Journals Gain Readers, Respect, Investor's Business Daily, February 14, 2008.
Presentations from VALA 2008 conference
Presentations from the VALA (formerly the Victorian Association for Library Automation) 2008 conference (February 5-7, Melbourne, Australia) are now available online. (Thanks to Charles Bailey.) Many are OA-related. Session topics include: Library 2.0, Repositories, Publishing, and Intellectual Property.
New mailing list on commons research
A new mailing list is available on commons research. (Thanks to Charles Bailey.) Description:
Discussion among researchers studying the commons, for example the use and impact of peer production methods and communities and open licensing. We welcome researchers studying the commons in a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, economics, law, media studies, sociology... Blog notes on Open Access Collections workshop
Peter Murray-Rust, APSR 2008, A Scientist and the Web, February 14, 2008. Notes from the Open Access Collections workshop by the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (February 14, Brisbane).
Update on the Duke Law School repository
Kenneth J. Hirsh, more on e repositories, Teknoids, February 14, 2008.
CC licenses for public data in Australia Michael Cross, Australia set to give the go-ahead for Creative Commons licensing, The Guardian, February 14, 2008. Excerpt:
The new issue of OCLC Systems & Services (vol. 24, no. 1, 2008) is now online. Here are the OA-related articles. Only abstracts are free online, at least so far:
OA resource on European National Grid Initiatives The European Grid Initiative Design Study (EGI_DS) launched the EGI Knowledge Base, a wiki devoted to the National Grid Initiatives (NGI's) of Europe. (Thanks to Innovations Report.) Advisory Council for OKF definitions of open knowledge and open service The Open Knowledge Foundation has announced a new Advisory Council, February 15, 2008. From the announcement:
(Disclosure: I'm a member of the new council.) Two new essays by Larry Sanger Here are two new essays by Larry Sanger, founder of Citizendium and co-founder of Wikipedia:
Romanian physics institute joins SCOAP3 Romania's Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering has joined CERN's SCOAP3 project. More on OA for public geospatial data in the US The pseudonymous author of the FortiusOne blog worries that the newly announced US National Geospatial Advisory Committee will not support OA for public geospatial data. On Monday, LIS News named Open Access News one of 10 Non-Librarian Blogs To Read in 2008, along with Boing Boing, Lifehacker, and Slashdot. (Thanks, Blake.) Universities' obligations under the NIH policy
Michael Carroll, Open Access - NIH, Carrollogos, February 13, 2008.
The presentations from Open Access Collections: Workshop on the challenges and opportunities of open access publishing for Australian universities (Brisbane, February 14, 2008) are now online. (Thanks to Colin Steele.) OCLC grant to study OAI-compliant data sharing for museums
On February 12, Online Computer Library Center announced it had received a $145,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for projects related to data sharing. The funds will be used "to build an information architecture and model behaviors that museums can use to routinely exchange data" using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. (Thanks to ResourceShelf.)
Heidi Ledford, Harvard adopts open-access policy, Nature News, February 15, 2008. Here are some new details:
Demo launch of European digital library
Europeana, a demo of the European digital library, opened to the public on February 11, 2008. From the announcement:
Ireland's Health Research Board adopts an OA policy Ireland's Health Research Board has issued a Position Statement in Support of Open and Unrestricted Access to Published Research (Open Access). (Thanks to Robin Adams via David Prosser.) The HTML edition, above, is undated, but the PDF edition includes the date, January 25, 2008. Excerpt:
Comment. The HRB policy puts institutional repositories on a par with PMC, and it asks authors who cannot persuade a publisher to let them comply with the HRB policy to find another publisher. That's good. But there's no blinking away the fact that HRB is merely encouraging OA archiving, despite the fact that the NIH has documented the failure of mere encouragement and the HRB's own models (Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council) go beyond mere encouragement to explicit mandates. I hope the HRB can strengthen the policy and make it mandatory at the first policy review. If it wants to respect publisher embargoes (#4 above), then it can require "dark" deposit immediately upon acceptance for publication, release OA metadata immediately, and release OA full-text only after the embargo has run --what I call the dual deposit/release strategy and Stevan Harnad calls immediate deposit / optional access. More on the struggle for OA in anthropology David Glenn, Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 15, 2008 (accessible only to subscribers). Excerpt:
PreCYdent is a new OA database and search engine for primary sources in law, now available in alpha. (Thanks to Robert J. Ambrogi via Bonnie Shucha.) From the about page:
From an interview last month with founder Tom Smith:
Also see the FAQ. More comments on the Harvard OA mandate Here are some more comments on the new Harvard OA mandate. From Gavin Baker at the Journal of Insignificant Inquiry:
From Alexandre Enkerli at Disparate:
From Adrian Ho at Transforming Scholarly Communication:
From Andis Kaulins at LawPundit:
From Dorothea Salo at Caveat Lector:
The presentations from the BOBCATSS 2008 conference, Providing Access to Information for Everyone (Zadar, Croatia, January 28-30, 2008), are now online. (Thanks to Informationssplatform Open Access.) Many are on OA; all are in English. Free online access to the Brockhaus Encyclopedia Germany's 30-volume Brockhaus Encyclopedia will drop its price barrier and be free online starting in mid-April. (Thanks to Heise Online via Informationsplattform Open Access.) DOAJ growth rate still accelerating Heather Morrison reports that the rate at which the DOAJ is adding new OA journals is still accelerating:
Google Library Project a boon for books
Charles Edward Smith, A Few Thoughts on the Google Books Library Project, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, January-March 2008.
Beta version of the Public Library of Law Fastcase has launched the beta version of the Public Library of Law. Excerpt:
PS: For some of the background, see my posts (one, two) on the Fastcase-Public.Resource.Org joint project to provide OA to US federal case law. PLoL, however, goes well beyond federal case law. Three on the Harvard OA mandate Today's issue of Library Journal Academic Newswire has three stories on the new Harvard OA mandate. 1. A Shot Heard 'Round the Academic World: Harvard FAS Mandates Open Access. Excerpt:
2. After Harvard, the Open Access Deluge? Excerpt:
3. Shieber: Librarians Very Involved with Harvard OA Motion. Excerpt:
Stevan Harnad's proposed revisions to the Harvard policy Stevan Harnad, Weaken the Harvard OA Mandate To Strengthen It, Open Access Archivangelism, February 14, 2008. This excerpt is based on an email which slightly updates the blog post:
PS: For my comments on many (but not all) of these issues, see my post from February 12. More on the Harvard OA mandate Here are some more comments on the new Harvard OA mandate. From Mike Carroll at Carrollogos. Mike has blogged a handful of posts on the new Harvard policy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Here are some bits from #3 and #6:
From Matthew Cockerill (BMC publisher) at the BMC blog:
From the editorial board of BCHeights, the independent student newspaper of Boston College:
From the editorial board of Washington Square News, a student newspaper for New York University:
From Punya Mishra on Punya Mishra's web:
From T. Scott Plutchak at T. Scott:
From Gregory Qualtheim at inappropriate response:
From Robert VerBruggen at National Review Online:
Oregon faculty senate recommends OA The University of Oregon Faculty Senate adopted a resolution in support of OA, February 13, 2008. (Thanks to J.Q. Johnson.)
Comments
Happy birthday to the Budapest Open Access Initiative, which is six years old today. The BOAI "statement of principle,...statement of strategy, and...statement of commitment" was released on February 14, 2002. It wasn't the first initiative in the OA movement, but it was the first to offer a public definition of OA, the first to use the term "open access", the first to call for OA journals and OA archives as complementary strategies, the first to call for OA in all disciplines and countries, and the first to be accompanied by significant funding. I wouldn't say that it launched the OA movement, which was already under way, but that it was one of the first significant steps to catalyze, energize, and unify the OA movement. (Disclosure: I helped draft the BOAI and I receive support from the Open Society Institute, which funded the BOAI. I hope my high opinion of the BOAI is justified, not biased. But I gladly make this disclosure and invite you to decide for yourselves. If you think I'm biased, please write your own birthday greeting!) For some quick reviews of the progress of OA since the launch of the BOAI, see Open Access in 2007, Open Access in 2006, Open Access in 2005, Open Access in 2004, and Open Access in 2003. I didn't write an OA review for 2002, but I did review OA archiving activity in the first six months after the BOAI launched. And for the details missing from these reviews, there's always my timeline. Happy birthday, BOAI, and many happy returns. To all who have worked for OA worldwide, Happy Valentines Day.
Roundup of commentary on Harvard OA policy Peter wrote earlier about the policy adopted by Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Here are some reactions. Stevan Harnad, Harvard Adopts 38th Green Open Access Self-Archiving Mandate, Open Access Archivangelism blog, February 13, 2008. Absent any new information (or amendments) to the contrary, Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences on Tuesday February 12 adopted the world's 38th Green Open Access Self-Archiving Mandate -- the 16th of the institutional or departmental mandates. Chris Armbruster, Harvard Open Access and the significant move of Copyright Retention, A2k mailing list, February 13, 2008.
Andy Guess, Harvard Opts In to 'Opt Out' Plan, Inside Higher Ed, February 13, 2008. (Thanks to George Porter.)
Gavin Baker, Harvard faculty say yes to OA, Journal of Insignificant Inquiry, February 13, 2008.
David Weinberger, Harvard to vote on open access proposal, Joho the Blog, February 12th, 2008. (Thanks to Mathew Ingram.) Weinberger is a fellow at Harvard Law's Berkman Center (which is not part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences). ... I like this idea a lot. I only wish it went further. Faculty members will be allowed to opt-out of the requirement pretty much at will (as I understand it), which could vitiate it: If a prestigious journal accepts an article but only if it�s not been made openly available, faculty members may well decide it�s more important for their careers to be published in the journal. ... Robert Mitchell, Harvard to collect, disseminate scholarly articles for faculty, Harvard University Gazette, February 13, 2008. (Thanks to George Porter.)
See also the coverage at the Chronicle of Higher Education's News Blog and at Slashdot. There's plenty more to come. Educating biomedical researchers about OA in Italy
Paola De Castro, et al., Educating authors of biomedical publications to the benefits of Open Access journals, European Association for Health Information & Libraries Workshop 2007, September 12-15, 2007; deposited on February 10, 2008. Abstract:
Bora Zivkovic, Openness is Essential Freedom: Interview with Vedran Vucic, A Blog Around the Clock, February 9, 2008. Vucic is president of the board of GNULinux Centar in Belgrade.
Podcast of opinion on OA publishing
Arunn Narasimhan, Open Access Publishing Podcast, Unruled Notebook blog, February 10, 2008. A 17-minute audio recording of comments on OA publishing, with transcript. Excerpt:
Rating health policy journals by impact, cost, and OA policies
Jim Till, Assessing health services research journals, Be openly accessible or be obscure blog, February 11, 2008. Contains a discussion of journals in the field of health services research, especially from a Canadian perspective, including ranking (by SCImago, Eigenfactor, etc.), cost-effectiveness, self-archiving policy, and processing fees for OA. Excerpt:
OA student publishing as an assessment tool
Jos van Helvoort, Student publishing as an assessment tool for assignments and research papers, Open Students blog, February 13, 2008.
OA books on African politics and history Sweden's Nordiska Afrikainstitutet or Nordic Africa Institute publishes over 600 books in dual (OA and non-OA) editions on African politics, economics, social issues and modern history. It recently announced six new titles and a new series on Policy Notes. (Thanks to Jan Szczepanski.) David J. Solomon, Developing Open Access Journals: A Practical Guide, Chandos Publishing, 2008. From the author's note on the web site:
PS: Congratulations, David! Swedish and Belgian groups sign Berlin Declaration The Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) and the Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid (Belgian Science Policy) have signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge. More on the OA mandate in Ukraine Iryna Kuchma, Open Access, Equity, and Strong Economy in Developing and Transition Countries: Policy Perspective, Serials Review, February 12, 2008. (Thanks to Stevan Harnad.) Only this abstract is free online, at least so far:
PS: For background, see my previous posts on OA policy in Ukraine. Update. There is now an OA edition of this article. Access to charitable research in Canada The Canada Revenue Agency has issued draft Guidelines for Research as a Charitable Activity and invites public comments. (Thanks to David Bearman.) Excerpt:
PS: Comments are due by February 29, 2008, and may be sent by email to <consultation-policy-politique@cra-arc.gc.ca>.
Here's the full text of the motion submitted today to the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. (Thanks to George Porter.) We know it was approved. I assume that it was approved without change, but if I hear of any amendments I'll post them here.
PS: For my first thoughts on the policy, see my post from February 12. I'll have more to say in the March issue of SOAN. I haven't seen the news from an official Harvard source yet, but the Chronicle of Higher Education confirms that the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences adopted the OA policy defended by University Librarian Robert Darnton earlier today in the Harvard Crimson. Comment. This is very good news. For my first thoughts, see my comments this morning on Darnton's op-ed. I'm spending the night in a gate at the Philadelphia airport, too groggy to think and too uncomfortable to doze off. I won't be in a condition to compose second thoughts or digest other responses until I can sleep and catch up (probably Thursday). More on the imminent OA mandate at Harvard Robert Darnton, The Case for Open Access, Harvard Crimson, February 12, 2008. Darnton is the Director of the Harvard University Library. Excerpt:
Comments
Update. Also see Patricia Cohen's story on the Harvard policy in today's New York Times. Update. Also see Stevan Harnad's comments. Stevan argues for an immediate deposit / optional access policy rather than a permission mandate. Update. Also see the article in Library Journal Academic Newswire.
1.8 Million Pages of U.S. Case Law Available Now for Developers, No Restrictions on Reuse, a press release from Public.Resource.Org and Creative Commons, February 11, 2008. Excerpt:
PS: For examples, see the new Legal Commons editions of the Federal Reporter 2d (vols. 178-999), Federal Reporter 3d (vols. 1-491), and US Reports (vols. 1-546). For background, see the first announcement of the PRO-Fastcase project back on November 14, 2007. Kudos to PRO, CC, and Fastcase for this invaluable service. Developers and users interested in bulk downloads should see the readme file.
In just a minute I'll be on the road for three days with few opportunities for blogging or email. By chance, Gavin will also be unavailable on Sunday and Monday. Except for odd moments here and there, we'll start to catch up on Wednesday. |