[Ecommerce] Seeking Support for an A2K Bill (S2695)

[Manon Ress]

Show support for an A2K Bill, the Federal research Public Access Act
of 2006.  Sign on proposal below. Let me know if you want to work on
this with me.
Manon

http://offzroad.blogspot.com/

Dear colleagues,

The bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006, http://
thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.02695:
introduced on May 2, 2006 by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Joe
Lieberman (D-CT), would require that US Government agencies make
manuscripts of journal articles stemming from research funded by that
agency publicly available via the Internet.  The manuscripts will be
maintained and preserved in a digital archive maintained by that
agency or in another suitable repository that permits free public
access, interoperability, and long-term preservation.  Each
manuscript will be freely available to users without charge within
six months after it has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

If Congress passes the bill into law, there will be a significant
improvement in  access to research as well as an increase of
visibility of their works for researchers that are partially or
totally funded in agencies whose annual extramural research budgets
exceed $100 million.

The bill recognizes the benefits of timely sharing of research and
the cost effective means to accelerate scientific advancement in
using the internet.  The beneficiaries will be scientists, scholars,
funders as well as taxpayers whose investment in scientific research
will be enhanced by technology transfer, timely and broad application
of research to healthcare and more informed policy development.

Because it will improve access to science, the legislation is
supported by various national organizations of academic libraries =96
including the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries,
Association of College and Research Libraries, Association of
Research Libraries, and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic
Resources Coalition).

CPTech is writing a letter of support for the Federal research public
access act of 2006 that we will send to Senators Cornyn and Lieberman
next week.  If you would like to sign on, let me know, I'll send you
first draft (or if you prefer you can write you own letter and fax it
at numbers below).

I understand Senators Cornyn and Lieberman are hearing in force from
publishers who oppose it, and we want to be sure they hear from us too.

Here is the full contact info for both senators:

Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: 202-224-2934
Fax: 202-228-2856
http://cornyn.senate.gov/index.asp?f=3Drecord&lid=3D1&rid=3D237171

Senator Joe Lieberman
706 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4041 Voice
(202) 224-9750 Fax


MORE INFO at:

Bill Seeks Access to Tax-Funded Research Grant Recipients Would Be
Required to Post Findings on Internet
By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 3, 2006; Page A21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/02/
AR2006050201506.html

TAXPAYER ALLIANCE SUPPORTS SENATE BILL BROADENING ACCESS TO FEDERAL
RESEARCH
Cornyn-Lieberman Bill Requires Key Federal Funders to Post Research
on Internet,
Bill Introduced on First Anniversary of NIH Public Access Policy
Implementation
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/media/Release06-0502.html

SPARC Advocacy Resources The Federal Research Public Access Act of
2006 FAQ
http://www.arl.org/sparc/resources/frpaa.html


************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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