SPARC chair responds to White House Open Access directive

Lorraine J. Haricombe, Dean of Libraries at the University of Kansas, provided the following comment on the February 22nd announcement regarding the White House's release of its directive on Public Access to Articles and Data. Haricombe is a founding member of the Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI) and chair of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) steering committee.

Haricombe's statement:
The Public Access to Articles and Data directive released by the White House on Friday sends a clear and strong message: Citizens deserve free and open access to federally-funded research. The Obama Administration's support of open access, coupled with the recent introduction of the newly revised Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act, shows unprecedented mandates for open access from two branches of the federal government.

The two mandates are complementary and ultimately allow for continued strides in scientific discovery as well as economic development and sustainability--progress that's due in large part to accessibility of taxpayer-funded research and information. This is a tremendous opportunity for the open access movement, and I am grateful for the support of both the White House and the U.S. Congress for their shared commitment to these vital initiatives.

See the full news release.