On March 5, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) became the fifth co-sponsor of the Conyers bill, and the first to add her name since the bill was re-introduced on February 3. She's also the first co-sponsor from outside the House Judiciary Committee.
It's very important that NY researchers and institutions contact her (by web form, phone or fax) to express support for the NIH policy and opposition to any bill which would repeal it --whether it's the Conyers bill (HR 801) or equivalent language tucked into a different bill.
As usual, you will be more persuasive if you can explain why the NIH policy matters to you, your work, or your organization. Be specific and be personal. Speak for yourself, but if you can, get your institution to send a letter as well. Save your message; you may need to adapt and reuse it later. And please spread the word to your NY colleagues.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/08/2009 03:07:00 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.
