[A2k] Soil Scientists Support Public Access Act

[Benjamin Krohmal]

I should have mentioned in my previous post that the Public Access
Act would apply to taxpayer funded research in all areas of science,
not just medicine.  Now soil scientists are onboard.  REMINDER: e-
mail me by 4 pm Thursday to have your health-related organization
sign on in support of this legislation.


<snip>
This will allow unprecedented access to soil science literature. For
soil scientists around the world, this could mean the difference
between either ready access or no access to the latest knowledge in
areas like soil science, biology, hydrology, education, and
environmental health. For those in a position to develop soil science
education programs in developing countries, this initiative will
provide a needed resource to help this to happen.
<snip>


Full text:

Soil scientists renew the call for broader access to publicly funded
research

Washington, DC - January 30, 2007 - The National Society of Consulting
Soil Scientists, which represents 156 private soil consulting firms
in the
U.S., has declared its support for the Federal Research Public Access
Act.
The society is the first to publicly announce its support for the bill.

The Federal Research Public Access Act was introduced in 2006 by Senator
John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Joseph Lieberman (D/I-CT) and is awaiting
reintroduction in the 110th Congress.  The bill would require federal
agencies that fund over $100 million in annual external research to make
manuscripts of peer-reviewed journal articles stemming from that
research
publicly available via the Internet. (For further information about the
legislation, see http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa/).

Issued on January 24, 2007 via the Society blog
(http://e2ma.net/go/492617468/390539/12491257/goto:http://
consultingsoilscientists.blogspot.com/2007/01/nscss-supports-federal-
research-public.html),
the statement reads:

     The National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists supports S.
2695,
the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006, as introduced, in that
it reflects NSCSS goals regarding the free exchange of information,
promoting soil science technology...

     This will allow unprecedented access to soil science literature.
For
soil scientists around the world, this could mean the difference
between either ready access or no access to the latest knowledge in
areas like soil science, biology, hydrology, education, and
environmental health. For those in a position to develop soil science
education programs in developing countries, this initiative will
provide a needed resource to help this to happen.

The statement is also linked on the society Web page at
http://www.nscss.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94.





Benjamin Krohmal
Coordinator - Project on Medical Innovation
Consumer Project on Technology
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@cptech.org