Acronym

“Open access,” in publishing, refers to immediate, free online access to content—scholarly journal articles, in particular. The open access movement is the subject of an upcoming article in the fall 2007 issue of the Journal of Association Leadership, and it’s also discussed in the August 2007 issue of Associations Now, through an interview with open access evangelist Patrick Brown.

While I was sitting in on today’s meeting of the Journal Editorial Board, Ann Oliveri talked about the ways that open access can expand the influence of your association—just by allowing your members to disseminate your materials to their colleagues and contacts. That’s one thing I personally find attractive about open access, aside from the various (and sometimes thorny) questions of economics. By opening things up, you broaden the conversation to people who might not belong to your association but could have a lot to add.

If you’re interested in open access, check out the Monday Learning Lab “Open Access: Digital, Online, Free-of-Charge Publication Models” at 4:30 p.m. in room N426C.