The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship
Questions about access to scholarship go back farther than recent debates over subscription prices, rights, and electronic archives suggest. The great libraries of the past —from the fabled collection at Alexandria to the early public libraries of nineteenth-century America— stood as arguments for increasing access. In The Access Principle, John Willinsky describes the latest chapter in this ongoing story — online open access publishing by scholarly journals — and makes a case for open access...
Search in google:
An argument for extending the circulation of knowledge with new publishing technologies considers scholarly, economic, philosophical, and practical issues. Library Journal Willinsky (literacy and technology, Univ. of British Columbia) offers an informed, well-rounded, and readable argument in favor of open access, perhaps the hot-button issue (sorry, Google) both for academic libraries and serials publishers in the digital age. His workmanlike effort defines the concept of open access in its many forms, from new Internet-based "author-pays" journals, such as those launched by the Public Library of Science, to government efforts and the advent of "self-archiving." Willinsky also does a commendable job of recapping the current serials crisis that has hamstrung library budgets. Where the author truly succeeds, however, is in illustrating the "access principle": the overarching thesis that access to knowledge benefits us all. Although he overreaches somewhat in positioning serials pricing as a human rights issue, his well-researched and soberly argued book convinces us that, despite a rocky transition and staunch resistance, the open access future may indeed be inevitable. Recommended for all academic libraries.-Andrew R. Albanese, Library Journal Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
1Opening12Access133Copyright394Associations555Economics696Cooperative817Development938Public1119Politics12710Rights14311Reading15512Indexing17313History189App. ATen flavors of open access211App. BScholarly association budgets217App. CJournal management economies221App. DAn open access cooperative227App. EIndexing of the serial literature233App. FMetadata for journal publishing241
\ From the Publisher"A well-researched and scholarly account of the issues surrounding the publication of research. The book is both balanced and fair in its discussion of the various models and responses to concerns about the accessibility of publicly funded research." Science\ " The Access Principle is a brilliant book, meticulously researched and richly documented." Gene Glass and Sherman Dorn TC Record\ \ \ \ \ \ Library JournalWillinsky (literacy and technology, Univ. of British Columbia) offers an informed, well-rounded, and readable argument in favor of open access, perhaps the hot-button issue (sorry, Google) both for academic libraries and serials publishers in the digital age. His workmanlike effort defines the concept of open access in its many forms, from new Internet-based "author-pays" journals, such as those launched by the Public Library of Science, to government efforts and the advent of "self-archiving." Willinsky also does a commendable job of recapping the current serials crisis that has hamstrung library budgets. Where the author truly succeeds, however, is in illustrating the "access principle": the overarching thesis that access to knowledge benefits us all. Although he overreaches somewhat in positioning serials pricing as a human rights issue, his well-researched and soberly argued book convinces us that, despite a rocky transition and staunch resistance, the open access future may indeed be inevitable. Recommended for all academic libraries.-Andrew R. Albanese, Library Journal Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.\ \
