If you're like most students, you'll write a research paper during your time at UF. More than likely, you'll need to access articles published in academic journals, which you'll do thanks to a subscription by the UF libraries. But what do you do when the library doesn't have a subscription?
That situation is today's reality. Last year, UF's library materials budget was well under the average of the top 10 public universities, and just more than half the budget of the University of Michigan. Next year, the library is planning to cancel $750,000 in journal subscriptions due to funding constraints. Ultimately, UF will never be able to afford all the research materials we might need. The question is not, "What if we didn't have access to research?" but, "How can we make things better?"
Today, Congress has the opportunity to improve access to vital research. Every year, the U.S. government invests more than $55 billion in research, which results in thousands of journal articles published annually. In fact, the federal government is by far the biggest financial backer of scholarly research. If researchers were required to make their findings available online as a condition of funding, access to research could be greatly improved.
A bill recently introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., would do just that. The Federal Research Public Access Act would require research-funding agencies to establish policies that ensure that the fruits of the research they fund are made available to every American. The bill has been supported by researchers and librarians - and students should support it, too.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/06/2006 03:19:00 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.
