Germany is buying national site licenses for many subscription-based journals. From yesterday's press release:
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will fund national licenses for digital publications in an effort to improve the provision of scientific library services at German universities. This decision was agreed by the DFG's Grants Committee on General Research Support at its meeting on 2 December 2005. Funding amounting to €21.5 million will be provided to pay for licenses for 30 large collections of literary works and publications as well as extensive volumes of journals and periodicals published in past years. This will give researchers in the humanities and natural sciences in Germany access to an important resource. From May 2006 on researchers, scientists and students at universities and research institutions throughout Germany will enjoy free online access to the databases and digital periodical archives of major international publishers.
(PS: This is subsidized toll access, not open access, even though it will feel the same to German readers at their desks. German authors should not be fooled, however, and will still want the increased audience and impact that comes from true OA. As far as I can tell, the national site licenses in the UK have not diminished the desire of UK researchers for true OA. The best evidence is the support for the draft RCUK policy.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/09/2005 12:04:00 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.
