Cornell's Legal Information Institute (LII) has released a new, open-access version of the U.S. Code (the codified statutes of the U.S. federal government). By itself, this isn't unusual. The text is in the public domain and there are several other OA editions online. What makes this version distinctive is that the Cornell team has marked up the entire text in XML and released the XML source code under a Creative Commons license. The LII's purpose is to make re-use of public-domain legal texts as easy and inviting as possible. Before you can view the source, you must register and answer a few questions. But after that, you're in re-use heaven. For example, the XML tags define every section and subsection of the code, allowing pinpoint cross-referencing, linking, and searching. (Thanks to Steven Perkins.) (PS: I can't think of a better place to start this kind of "deep open access" than with the texts of public law. Kudos to Cornell's LII.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/02/2004 01:23:00 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.
