RE: Open access and the ALA

["T Scott Plutchak" <tscott@uab.edu>]

Flipping through COGNOTES this morning I see an announcement that American
Libraries will be mounted and distributed through ebrary, probably
beginning in March, with content going back to 1998.  From the wording of
the announcement it does not appear that it will be open access.  It says
that "members will be able to access the archive with their membership
numbers..."  It does not mention availability via subscription.

T. Scott Plutchak
Director, Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences
University of Alabama at Birmingham
tscott@uab.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Anderson [mailto:rickand@unr.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 6:14 PM
To: Liblicense-L@Lists. Yale. Edu
Subject: Open access and the ALA

The more I think about the open access issue, the more I think it offers
an excellent opportunity for libraries to demonstrate both their
leadership in the new information age and their commitment to the broadest
possible distribution of information.  Has anyone suggested to the
American Library Association (and its various sections and committees)
that it lead by example on the open access front?  As a nonprofit
organization with the explicit mission of bringing information to the
people, it seems like the ALA really ought to be leading the way. Does
anyone know whether it is moving in this direction at all?

-------------
Rick Anderson
rickand@unr.edu