Ney says nay: The Ohio House member wants the public kept in the dark, an editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal for December 16. Excerpt: "The trouble is, the public cannot gain access [to these taxpayer funded research reports]. Essentially, the decision was made by Bob Ney, a Republican from St. Clairsville who chairs the House Administration Committee, which oversees the [Congressional Research Service or CRS]. The ranking Democrat on the committee agreed with Ney, ending a two-year pilot program that made indexes of the reports and the full texts available on the Web. Ney's reasoning? There are times when the facts requested by a member might not fit the position he or she has already staked out in public. 'Let's say that I'm working on an issue and I'm trying to look for some research that helps me to get my point across...and all of a sudden, the Congressional Research Service sends me over something and I read it and I say, "Oh, no, it's not going to help," ' Ney told the Associated Press. Just imagine the horror if the facts got in the way. Actually, Ney's principal objection appears to be giving opponents access to free research. Those citizens who paid for the research in the first place? The Ney response seems to be: Who cares?" (Thanks to RoadRunner.) (PS: Ohioans should write to Ney's office and explain why members of Congress should support the public interest. More coverage.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/21/2003 03:54:00 PM.
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.
