Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 09:28:07 +0530
From: Subbiah Arunachalam
Here is a statement from a group of eight Vice Chancellors of Australian
universities supporting open access. Many American universities, including
MIT, encourage open access. Physicists world wide place their preprints and
postprints in arXiv, the centralised archive for physics, astronomy,
mathematical biology and related fields. We must quickly mobilise Indian
universities to adopt open access. Prof. Nigavekar might wish to convene a
meeting of vice chancellors especially to discuss issues of access to
information generated world wide, dissemination of information generated in
Indian universities and the advantages of open access.
In my view, open access benefits developing countries far more than
developed countries. Regards.
Arun
[Subbiah Arunachalam]
[Forwarding from Colin Steele. Though dated "April 2004", this document was
released today, May 25, 2004. --Peter.]
Statement on open access to scholarly information
The Group of Eight vice-chancellors, representing Australia's pre-eminent
research universities, record their commitment to open access initiatives
that will enhance global access to scholarly information for the public
good.
The vice-chancellors note that:
* information, if it is to achieve maximum benefit for society, must
be readily available to a global audience
* the rapid development of digital communication technologies provides
expanded opportunities for the widespread dissemination of scholarly
information
* new business models are required to ensure that scholarly publishing
is cost effective
* any development in digital publishing must incorporate the current
framework of scholarly publishing standards relating to the quality of
inquiry and reporting
* digital publishing initiatives must appropriately recognise and
protect the intellectual property of the authors and require accepted
standards of attribution
* the Group of Eight universities are providing leadership in the
development of digital publishing initiatives in Australia.
The vice-chancellors support:
* ongoing development of open access initiatives in Group of Eight
universities
* digital publishing practices that underpin the timely,
cost-effective dissemination of the highest quality scholarly information
with a commitment to good practice
* further examination of criteria for promotion in new publishing
models.
Professor Ian W. Chubb AO
Chair, The Group of Eight
Vice-Chancellor
The Australian National University
Professor James McWha
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Adelaide
Professor Kwong Lee Dow AM
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Melbourne
Professor Richard Larkins AO
Vice-Chancellor
Monash University
Professor Mark Wainwright
Vice-Chancellor
The University of New South Wales
Professor John A. Hay AC
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Queensland
Professor Gavin Brown
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Sydney
Professor Alan Robson AM
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Western Australia
April 2004
