Open Access : Response to the DC principles. A group of library associations and public-interest advocacy organizations has issued a response to the DC principles. Excerpt:

We applaud the publishers who have signed the D.C. Principles for their commitment to free access to peer-reviewed research literature where they conclude it is feasible. [...]

Open access is our goal for scientific and scholarly communication because it facilitates the open discussion needed to accelerate research, share knowledge, and enlarge human understanding. The goal is so desirable -- for science itself and for researchers, universities, libraries, journals, publishers, learned societies, foundations, governments, and citizens -- that any problems we encounter in pursuing it are worth solving. Our organizations stand ready to work toward solutions in cooperation with the signatories of the D.C. Principles.

(PS: Full disclosure. I'm affiliated with two of the groups issuing the response and participated in its drafting.) [Open Access News]

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Libraries : More on OA to Canadian dissertations. Further to an item posted to this blog on 30 January 2004, OA to Canadian dissertations: An article, National Library launches portal for master's and PhD theses, in the March 2004 issue of University Affairs, is about the launch of Theses Canada. A (positive) excerpt: "Already the site represents the largest free, full-text database of electronic theses available anywhere in the world, says Sharon Reeves, manager of Theses Canada". Another (negative) excerpt: "...Theses Canada stores the documents in Adobe's longstanding PDF format, which is not easy to read online; more importantly, PDF documents are often missed by popular search engines like Google". [Open Access News]  2:41:52 PM   [Feedback ]  

Open Access : DC Principles for Free Access to Science. This morning in Washington, a group of 48 non-profit publishers released the Washington D.C. Principles for Free Access to Science. The principles assert that non-profit publishers "reinvest all of the revenue from [their] journals in the direct support of science worldwide, including scholarships, scientific meetings, grants, educational outreach, advocacy for research funding, the free dissemination of information for the public, and improvements in scientific publishing." In addition, they support the following forms of free online access:

• Selected important articles of interest are free online from the time of publication;
• The full text of our journals is freely available to everyone worldwide either immediately or within months of publication, depending on each publisher's business and publishing requirements;
• The content of our journals is available free to scientists working in many low-income nations;
• Articles are made available free online through reference linking between these journals;
• Our content is available for indexing by major search engines so that readers worldwide can easily locate information.

The signatories assert that "publication fees should not be borne solely by researchers and their funding institutions, because the ability to publish in scientific journals should be available equally to all scientists worldwide, no matter what their economic circumstances....[W]e believe that a free society allows for the co-existence of many publishing models." For more detail, see the page of background information, the press release, or the media advisory. [Open Access News]

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Open Access : Reflections on WSIS. Patrice Lyons, The World Meets the Internet, D-Lib Magazine, March 2004. Reflections on the World Summit on the Information Society. Excerpt: "The importance of information and knowledge development, including culturally diverse and multi-lingual materials, with open access to such knowledge for human progress and well-being, was a consistent theme throughout the Summit, particularly in the programs organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)....While there was an emphasis on open access to information, particularly at the government level, there was also recognition of the importance of intellectual property protection." [Open Access News]  10:33:38 AM   [Feedback ]  

Libraries : OAI : New OA digital libraries funded by NSDL. Lee Zia, The NSF National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) Program New Projects in Fiscal Year 2003, D-Lib Magazine, March 2004. A dazzling catalog of new OA digital libraries in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. [Open Access News]  10:32:40 AM   [Feedback ]  

Libraries : Paper Today, Online Tomorrow.

A new report put out by the "Project for Excellence in Journalism", part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, gives some valuable insights to the future of journalism in this country, and it doesn't sound particularly good for the traditional news sources.

The report takes a look at trends in each of eight media sectors: newspapers, magazines, network TV, cable TV, local TV, the Internet, radio, and ethnic and alternative media. The report is pretty extensive and the results can be read at the report website "www.stateofthemedia.org". I've pulled out a few tidbits and you can read the "eight major trends" they found here or take a gander at the article in the New York Times (free registration may be required).

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Open Access : PLoS co-founders win Wired Rave awards. The PLoS co-founders, Pat Brown, Mike Eisen, and Harold Varmus, were nominated for Wired Rave Awards in February and named as winners last night. Wired Magazine promises full coverage in its April issue. Congratulations to Pat, Mike, and Harold! [Open Access News]  9:30:11 AM   [Feedback ]  

Scholarly Publishing : Publish Or Perish. Lee Hadden writes "There is an interesting article by Mohamed Gad-el-Hak in the March 2004 issue of Physics Today. It concerns the "Publish or Perish" syndrome in science, and how we are being overwhelmed in libraries by mediocre and over- valued academic work. He suggests, among other things, better choosing of journals for libraries, and the publication of impact factors for scientific journals. See the article at: http://www.aip.org/pt/vol-57/iss-3/p61.html" [LISNews.com]  8:03:21 AM   [Feedback ]