[Ecommerce] More support for Public Access: Library groups commend twenty-three provosts for joining recent surge of support

[Manon Ress]

From: Jennifer Heffelfinger <jennifer@arl.org>
Date: August 3, 2006 1:51:07 PM EDT

For Immediate Release
August 3, 2006

UNIVERSITY SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC ACCESS ACT EXPANDS
Library groups commend twenty-three provosts for joining recent surge
of support

Washington, DC =96 August 3, 2006 =96 Just one week after more than two
dozen leading universities declared their strong support for the
Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006 (S.2695), provosts from an
additional 23 universities added their backing in a letter issued by
the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) and in individual
correspondence. This brings the total to at least 48 universities
that have gone on record as favoring the measure.

The Federal Research Public Access Act was introduced on May 2, 2006
by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT). It
requires federal agencies that fund over $100 million in annual
external research to make electronic manuscripts of peer-reviewed
journal articles that stem from their research publicly available on
the Internet. The U.S. government funds an estimated 50% of
university research, making this a particularly important cause for
the higher education community.

The GWLA letter reads, in part: =93Access to publicly funded research
facilitates the open discussion needed to accelerate research, share
knowledge, improve treatment of diseases, and increase human
understanding. [The Public Access Act] is a crucial step in realizing
this goal=85=94

=93With the passage of this bill, researchers across the United States
will have access to the results of work supported by federal
government funding, which will help advance scientific understanding
at a faster rate,=94 said David Pershing, Senior Vice-President,
Academic Affairs, University of Utah. =93No longer will knowledge
created using public funds be limited to the wealthiest institutions
and corporations. With everyone having access to up-to-date
information, I am confident we will see a higher level of scientific
research and innovation. This is a remarkable opportunity for
educators and students across the nation.=94

Signatories of the GWLA letter include provosts and vice presidents
for state and non land-grant institutions, such as the University of
Washington and Rice University. Their names are added to those of
another twenty-five institutions, including Harvard University and
Arkansas State University, who on Friday jointly issued =93An Open
Letter to the Higher Education Community.=94

=93The time is ripe for this legislation,=94 added Rodney Erickson,
Executive Vice President and Provost of The Pennsylvania State
University, who signed the Open Letter. =93Many of us in the academic
community believe the process of making the findings of publicly
supported research more widely available will stimulate further
research and education, and that is our primary mission as
universities.=94

=93GWLA member libraries and administrators support the Public Access
Act in principle and in practice,=94 said Adrian Alexander, Executive
Director of the Greater Western Library Alliance.  =93The implications
for research stemming from this bill are widespread, profound, and
utterly positive. We are pleased to add our voices in support.=94

Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and
Academic Resource Coalition), added, =93This groundswell of commitment
from the provost community is a significant indication that the
Federal Research Public Access Act has strong support in the higher
education community in the United States.=94

The GWLA letter, available online today, is at http://www.gwla.org/
provostletter.html.

The Open Letter to the Higher Education Community signed by twenty-
five provosts and issued on July 28, 2006 is online at http://
www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa/Provosts_openletter_06-JUL.pdf.

The American Association of Law Libraries, American Library
Association, Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries,
Association of College & Research Libraries, Association of Research
Libraries, Greater Western Library Alliance, Medical Library
Association, SPARC, and The Special Libraries Association encourage
taxpayers and other stakeholders in the scientific process to add
their support for this important legislation. Details are online at
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa/.

###

Contact:
Jennifer Heffelfinger
SPARC
jennifer@arl.org
(202) 296-2296 ext.121

###

American Association of Law Libraries
www.aallnet.org

With over 5,000 members, the American Association of Law Libraries
(AALL) represents law librarians and related professionals who are
affiliated with and serve the nearly one million men and women
working in the range of U.S. legal institutions: law firms; law
schools; corporate legal departments; courts; and local, state and
federal government agencies. The association was founded in 1906 to
promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and
public communities, to foster the profession of law librarianship,
and to provide leadership in the field of legal information.
Contact: Robert Oakley (202-662-9161)

American Library Association
www.ala.org

The American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest
library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members. Its
mission is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and
improvement of library and information services and the profession of
librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to
information for all.
Contact:  Miriam Nisbet (202-628-8410)

Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries
www.aahsl.org

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) is
composed of the directors of libraries of 142 accredited U. S. and
Canadian medical schools belonging to or affiliated with the
Association of American Medical Colleges. AAHSL's goals are to
promote excellence in academic health science libraries and to ensure
that the next generation of health practitioners is trained in
information seeking skills that enhance the quality of health care
delivery, education, and research. The Association influences
legislation and policies beneficial to the common good of academic
health sciences centers and their libraries, including opportunities
related to open access and new models of scholarly communication.
Contact: Mary Ryan (501-686-6730)

Association of College & Research Libraries
www.ala.org/acrl

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division
of the American Library Association, represents more than 13,000
academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is
the only individual membership organization in North America that
develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of
academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher
education community to understand the role that academic and research
libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.
Contact: Kara Malenfant (312-280-2510)

Association of Research Libraries
www.arl.org

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is an association of over
120 of the largest research libraries in North America. The member
institutions serve over 160,000 faculty researchers and scholars and
more than 4 million students in the U.S. and Canada. ARL's mission is
to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and
the public policies that affect research libraries and the
communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the
goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in
public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education
communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and
shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those
of allied organizations.
Contact:  Prudence Adler (202-296-2296)

Greater Western Library Alliance
www.gwla.org

The Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) is a consortium of 31
research libraries in 16 states in the greater Midwest and Western
U.S. GWLA members share common interests in scholarly communication,
resource sharing and staff development projects. GWLA was a founding
member of BioOne, an electronic scholarly publishing initiative
launched in 2001.
Contact: Adrian Alexander (816-926-8765)

Medical Library Association
www.mlanet.org

MLA is a nonprofit, educational organization with more than 4,500
health sciences information professional members worldwide. Founded
in 1898, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a
knowledge base of health information research, and works with a
global network of partners to promote the importance of quality
information for improved health to the health care community and the
public.
Contact:  Carla Funk (312-419-9094 x.14)

SPARC (Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition)
www.arl.org/sparc

SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resource Coalition, is
an international alliance of academic and research libraries and
organizations working to correct imbalances in the scholarly
publishing system. Developed by ARL, SPARC has over 200 member
institutions and affiliates in North America and closely collaborates
with SPARC Europe, which represents more than 70 additional
institutions in Europe. SPARC=92s strategies and activities support
open access and capitalize on the networked environment to
disseminate research more broadly.
Contact: Jennifer Heffelfinger (202-296-2296)

The Special Libraries Association
www.sla.org

SLA is a nonprofit global organization for innovative information
professionals and their strategic partners.  SLA serves more than
12,000 members in 83 countries in the information profession,
including corporate, academic and government information
specialists.  SLA promotes and strengthens its members through
learning, advocacy and networking initiatives.
Contact:  Doug Newcomb (703-647-4923)



-------------------------------------
Jennifer Heffelfinger
Communications Manager
SPARC
jennifer@arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
www.arl.org/sparc