Open Access, the Conversation Continued

By Jennifer L. Pesanelli, Director of Publications, FASEB Office of Publications—Since travel delays prevented Phil Davis of Cornell University from speaking at the SSP Pre-Meeting Seminar Open Access: What We Know Now, Phil gave his presentation July 14 during an SSP Web seminar Open Access: What We Know Now: The Conversation Continues. Organized by Patty Baskin and Jennifer Pesanelli, the Web seminar was well-attended by registrants from the pre-meeting seminar as well as many others interested in the data on Open Access. Phil presented new data on the impact of Open Access and expert interpretation of what can be learned from the data. Phil was joined on the Web seminar by Michael Kurtz, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Steven Mandeville-Gamble, Gelman Library, George Washington University. Michael and Steven shared their perspectives on Phil’s data and addressed key questions including: Does OA solve affordability and sustainability issues? How is technology and peer-to-peer sharing attenuating access inequalities? Is it possible to decouple certification from dissemination? What is the role of the publisher in a world of free content? Seminar attendees posted questions that sparked further discussion and debate. Undoubtedly this conversation needs to continue!