[Forwarding a brief excerpt from the current issue of Outsell's e-briefs (not otherwise online). --Peter.]
http://content.outsellinc.com/coms2/ebriefs ========================================== Outsell's e-briefs December 12, 2003 A Weekly Analysis of Events and Issues Affecting the Information Content Industry ========================================== [...] It's a Movement: Open Access Gaining Momentum Critical mass for the Open Access movement is starting to build, and it feels like a tsunami in the making. This week two high-profile supporters came on board: - The Science and Technology Committee of the British House of Commons will conduct an inquiry into public access to journal publishing in the scientific community, with the goal of ensuring that researchers, teachers, and students have access to the content they need. The committee is seeking input on the effects of current pricing policies, and possible government action to support access. http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/science_and_technology_committee/scitech111203a. - The United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society underway this week in Geneva is endorsing Open Access as a publishing strategy. The group's follow-the-money strategy will be to persuade those paying the bills for scientific information - governments, research agencies, foundations and companies - that publication in open-access journals is in their interest. http://www.wsis-si.org/si-wg.html Support for Open Access is pouring in, but it will look messy for a while. New phenomena often take time to sort themselves out, but in time we will see the proponents settle on the models and principles that will carry the movement forward.