IP: social movement to end access control on scientific literature

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:34:38 -0700
> From: John Gilmore <gnu () toad com>
>
> Hi Andrew!  Hi Dave!  I thought you'd both be very interested in this.
> I hope you're doing well...
>
>         John
>
> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 08:25:50 -0400
> From: Dan Geer <geer () world std com>
>
> This appears to be a nascent social movement to end access
> control on scientific literature.  The letter is in wide
> circulation, but its effects are difficult to gauge.  This
> form, from Phil Agre, is one of several I've gotten.
>
>
> From: Phil Agre <pagre () alpha oac ucla edu>
> To: "Red Rock Eater News Service" <rre () lists gseis ucla edu>
> Subject: [RRE]Public Library of Science Initiative
>
> [This comes from an RRE subscriber whose name I've deleted.  More
> at <http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999552>.]
>
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>
> Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 07:58:32 -0700
> From: Public Library of Science Initiative 
> <feedback () publiclibraryofscience org>
> Subject: Please tell your colleagues about Public Library of Science
> Cc: <sign () publiclibraryofscience org>
>
> Dear [xxx],
>
> Thank you for signing the open letter in support of unrestricted
> access to scientific publications.
>
> As of the end of March, more than twelve thousand scientists from 120
> countries have joined you in signing the open letter in support of the
> Public Library of Science initiative.  As a result of this initiative,
> several scientific publishers have already decided to adopt the
> policy advocated in the open letter, and almost every publisher and
> scientific society is discussing it.  Yet, most life scientists are
> still unaware of this initiative, and many of those who do know of
> its existence have a distorted view of the proposal and its purpose.
>
> The breadth and depth of support for this initiative from the
> scientific community will determine its success.  We believe that
> with your help in informing your colleagues about this effort, and
> encouraging them to support it, the open letter can be published in
> May with the signatures of 50,000 scientists.
>
> To achieve this goal, we each need to reach out to at least ten of our
> colleagues.  We would therefore like to ask you to consider two steps:
>
> 1. Send an email message to all the scientific colleagues in your
> address book (using the text attached at the bottom of this message,
> or a modified version of it, or use your own language).
>
> 2. Spend an hour or two of your time in the next week talking to
> colleagues at your own and other institutions, explaining to them
> the reasons that you chose to support the initiative, and encouraging
> them to join you in signing the letter.  (Let them know that they can
> sign the letter online at: http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org).
>
> Please also make a special effort to talk directly with the editors
> and publishers of journals that are important to you, informing them
> of your support of this initiative, and encouraging them to adopt the
> policy that the letter advocates.  We would greatly appreciate hearing
> about any such efforts you are able to make.
>
> Your time and effort can make the crucial difference in the success of
> this initiative.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michael Ashburner, University of Cambridge
> Patrick O. Brown, Stanford University
> Mary Case, Association of Research Libraries
> Michael B. Eisen, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and UC Berkeley
> Lee Hartwell, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
> Marc Kirschner, Harvard University
> Chaitan Khosla, Stanford University
> Roel Nusse, Stanford University
> Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs
> Matthew Scott, Stanford University
> Harold Varmus, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
> Barbara Wold, Caltech
>
> ========= Model email message to send to colleagues =========
>
> Dear Colleague,
>
> We write to ask for your support of an initiative to provide
> unrestricted access to the published record of scientific research.
> An open letter in support of this initiative has been signed by more
> than 4,500 scientists from 91 countries.  We hope you will take a
> minute to read the letter and consider signing it.
>
> The open letter, a list of the scientists who have already signed it,
> and some answers to frequently asked questions are posted at:
> http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org.  This site also provides a way
> for colleagues to sign the open letter online.
>
> You may also wish to read an editorial written by Richard J. Roberts,
> recently published in PNAS, which explains why he supports the
> initiative (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/041601398v1).
>
> This is a grassroots initiative, and the breadth and depth of support
> it receives from the scientific community will determine its success.
> If you decide to support this effort, please consider spending an hour
> or two of your time in the next week talking to colleagues at your own
> and other institutions, explaining to them the reasons that you chose
> to support it, and encouraging them to join you in signing the letter.
> Your effort can really make a difference.
>
> ======== OPEN LETTER ========
>
> We support the establishment of an online public library that would
> provide the full contents of the published record of research and
> scholarly discourse in medicine and the life sciences in a freely
> accessible, fully searchable, interlinked form.  Establishment of this
> public library would vastly increase the accessibility and utility
> of the scientific literature, enhance scientific productivity, and
> catalyze integration of the disparate communities of knowledge and
> ideas in biomedical sciences.
>
> We recognize that the publishers of our scientific journals have
> a legitimate right to a fair financial return for their role in
> scientific communication.  We believe, however, that the permanent,
> archival record of scientific research and ideas should neither be
> owned nor controlled by publishers, but should belong to the public,
> and should be freely available through an international online public
> library.
>
> To encourage the publishers of our journals to support this endeavor,
> we pledge that, beginning in September, 2001, we will publish in,
> edit or review for, and personally subscribe to, only those scholarly
> and scientific journals that have agreed to grant unrestricted free
> distribution rights to any and all original research reports that
> they have published, through PubMed Central and similar online public
> resources, within 6 months of their initial publication date.
>
>  ------- end -------



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