Jonah Goldberg, JSTOR & Gate Keepers, The Corner on National Review Online, April 11, 2004. Goldberg blogs about how, when he has put in a plea for a scholarly article, someone has answered his request through their institution's subscription to JSTOR. He laments how much scholarly material is simply out-of-reach for those without journal subscriptions or access to an academic library. Sound familiar?
If academics are dedicated to the spread of human knowlegde, if librarians are even more dedicated to the dissemination of learning via the printed word, why shouldn't such a resource be available to everyone? Why create firewalls and gatekeepers to human wisdom, if that is what scholarly research is? Don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with Nexis-Lexis charging for its services. They are a for-profit enterprise. But universities and libraries are not. They serve a different mission. So why keep the common man out of the intellectual Promised Land?
Responses from librarians and others can be read by scanning further up the page. Goldberg summarizes the open access question, as readers have communicated it to him. He then reprints a few e-mails extolling the virtues of the subscription-based model and the worthiness of JSTOR. One correspondent, however, while bashing the majority of librarians and the ALA, would urge some private funding for OA. Also, Goldberg eventually clarifies his original posting, remarking that JSTOR is a non-profit. (Source: SHUSH - a website for the conservative librarian)
Posted by
Garrett at 4/21/2004 04:44:00 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.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
