PUBLIC ACCESS MANDATE MADE LAW
President Bush signs omnibus appropriations bill,
including National Institutes of Health research access provision
Washington, D.C. – December 26, 2007 – President Bush has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 2764), which includes a provision directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide the public with open online access to findings from its funded research. This is the first time the U.S. government has mandated public access to research funded by a major agency.
Subscription models make publishers insist on controlling access to research they didn't perform, write up, or fund. They act like a midwives who insist on keeping (or hiding, or performing surgery on) other folks' babies.
"Academic literature should be freely available: developing countries need access; part time ... thinkers ... journalists and the public can benefit; ... you’ve already paid for much of this stuff with your taxes ... important new ideas from humanity"
Leading academics in fields as diverse as biology, computer science, and law have spoken out and taken action for “open access” which includes novel publishing models that do not set up barriers to access, models where neither Wiley nor Elsevier nor e
Vast improvements in raw computing power, storage capacity, algorithms, and networking capabilities have led to fundamental scientific discoveries inspired by a new generation of computational models . . .Powerful 'data mining' techniques operating across
C. Kanyengo. Medical reference services quarterly, 27 (2):
173-187(2008)M3: Article; Accession Number: 33892415; Kanyengo, Christine Wamunyima 1; Email Address: ckanyengo@yahoo.com; Affiliation: 1: Librarian, Medical Library, School of Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 50110, Lusaka, Zambia; Source Info: Summer2008, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p173; Subject Term: MEDICAL informatics; Subject Term: HEALTH education; Subject Term: COMMUNITY health aides; Subject Term: ACCESS to information; Subject Term: MEDICAL libraries; Subject Term: LIFE sciences libraries; Subject Term: UNIVERSITY of Zambia (Zambia); Subject Term: ZAMBIA; Author-Supplied Keyword: Africa; Author-Supplied Keyword: health information; Author-Supplied Keyword: health workers; Author-Supplied Keyword: information access; Author-Supplied Keyword: information outreach; Author-Supplied Keyword: medical libraries; Author-Supplied Keyword: out program; Author-Supplied Keyword: Zambia; NAICS/Industry Codes: 519120 Libraries and Archives; Number of Pages: 15p; Document Type: Article.
G. Ajuwon, and L. Rhine. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 25 (3):
175-185(September 2008)M3: Article; Accession Number: 33625078; Ajuwon, Grace Ada 1 Rhine, Lenny 2; Affiliation: 1: *Reference and Information Services Librarian, E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and 2: †University Librarian Emeritus, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Source Info: Sep2008, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p175; Subject Term: INFORMATION & communication technologies; Subject Term: DIGITAL divide; Subject Term: INTERNET -- Access control; Subject Term: ELECTRONIC information resources; Subject Term: MEDICAL libraries; Subject Term: AFRICA, Sub-Saharan; NAICS/Industry Codes: 519120 Libraries and Archives; Number of Pages: 11p; Document Type: Article.