More open access to public funded research would aid the knowledge economy

In this issue, Houghton and Oppenheim put forward a proposition for a widespread shift to Green Open Access publication of research, based on the Houghton Report, and the Editor, Professor Stuart Macdonald, gives key figures the chance to respond. Read the articles that form this lively and interesting debate!

Tools to search RePEc

Currently, there are three different websites that offer bibliographic searches based on the data collected by RePEc: EconPapers, IDEAS and EconomistsOnline. Why use them instead of simply Google or Google Scholar? First, RePEc services allow fielded search: given the structure of the underlying metadata, it is possible to separate search results by authors, topical area, date, publication type and other attributes. EconomistOnline goes here the furthest, by allowing to narrow result sets successively according to various criteria. Second, the database and the search engines are updated as soon as publishers post new material, thus search results always reflect current holdings.

Now free - world's most comprehensive bibliography of scholarly writing about the history of western art

As of April 1, 2010, the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) will be available free of charge on the Getty Web site at http://library.getty.edu/bha. Free Web access to BHA is an advantage not only to all traditional users of the database but also to such potential users as institutions in developing countries and independent scholars worldwide, who until now have been unable to afford access to the BHA. Since ending its collaboration with the Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (INIST)–CNRS in December 2007, the Getty has been searching for partners to continue the production and distribution of BHA. This process has been complicated, and with no suitable arrangement immediately available, the Getty decided to act on its commitment to the scholarly community by providing access to BHA directly from its own Web site.

Open Sesame - Nature editorial on Open Access developments

Government influence favouring enhanced openness is rightly diversifying practices in science publishing.

The rise of the Internet in the 1990s helped spark a radical idea for turning primary science publishing on its head. If journals charged authors a fee to publish, instead of charging readers and libraries a fee to subscribe, said the advocates, published peer-reviewed papers could be provided free to anyone in the world.

This simple-sounding notion provoked visceral debate..........

UK Ordnance Survey to free up information

Prime minister Gordon Brown has said that the government will be making “a substantial package of information held by ordnance survey freely available to the public, without restrictions on re-use.”

By Peter Williams, Information World Review 22 Mar 2010
The announcement came in a speech on building Britain’s digital future. He said further details on the package and government’s response to the consultation will be published by the end of March.

HSE’s Lenus joins global science gateway

The HSE’s online repository for health research, has been accepted as part of the WorldWideScience Alliance, the internet-based global science gateway.

This is a considerable achievement and represents an important step in Lenus’ innovative programme to increase the profile and effectiveness of research in the Irish health services. The Lenus repository is maintained by the Regional Library in Dr Steevens’ Hospital, and since its inception has worked to provide a platform for researchers working in the HSE to make their work available to colleagues, both in Ireland and around the world. In Lenus, researchers create their own web pages to share information and contacts online with others engaged in similar work. This facilitates the inter-disciplinary exchange of ideas and findings, making Lenus a key research hub in the Irish health sector.

Read the full press release www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/lenus.html

and visit the WorldWideScience Alliance here http://worldwidescience.org/news.html

OA citation advantage: paper summarizing research to date

Paper by Alma Swan