*Note: The following is from our archived collection of older documents, and may not reflect the most current information.
SLA's Board Calls for Collaboration among Creators, Publishers, and End Users
Open Access (generally defined as free online access to scientific information) is a hot issue, and it is evoking reactions both negative and positive. SLA has traditionally supported accessible information, but not necessarily free.
Publishing house mergers and bundling practices have significantly changed the choices and options available to access information. It has become apparent, however, that due to bundling, the resulting high pricing of crucial scientific, technical, and medical information, many organizations are being forced to make purchasing decisions that may not best serve research and society as a whole. With journal pricing increasing at a rapid rate, the establishment of competitive Open Access journals and resources may spur a change in the pricing and access models available from commercial publishers. Open Access may shift the cost burden from the acquirer to the producer of the information. SLA encourages ongoing exploration of viable means to expand the availability of scientific and scholarly research.
SLA's Board of Directors calls for collaboration among creators, publishers, and end users of scientific research materials to work toward a mutually beneficial information infrastructure, formulating pricing and distribution strategies that will provide equity for publishers and users alike.
It is SLA's practice to ensure the flow of information in the corporate, government, research and scholarly communities, and when appropriate to collaborate with other professional associations, agencies and interested parties to facilitate the change required to increase the flow of information to the information user communities. It is for this purpose that SLA participates with such groups as Information Access Alliance, a coalition promoting a new standard of antitrust review which should be adopted by state and federal antitrust enforcement agencies in examining merger transactions in the serials publishing industry [http://www.informationaccess.org/], and maintains communications and possible collaboration on projects with groups such as the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition's ( SPARC) Open Access Working Group (OAWG).
SLA will continue to monitor Open Access and journal pricing, and welcomes comments from its members and others.
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