** Cross-Posted **

>   "It's one thing to say you support open-access publishing. It's
>   another to provide authors with a pot of money to actually pay
>   for it. That's what's happening at the University of California
>   Berkeley..." (SPARC News May 2008)
>   http://www.arl.org/sparc/publications/articles/memberprofile-berkeley.shtml

It's one thing to support open-access publishing. It's another to provide
open access.

What research worldwide needs urgently today is not the money to pay OA
journals but OA itself.

I hope that apart from just providing authors with money to pay OA
publishing fees, Berkeley will also join the ranks of Southampton and
Harvard (and 42 other research universities, departments and funders)
in mandating that their authors provide OA itself.
http://www.eprints.org/openaccess/policysignup/

     "In January, the university launched the Berkeley Research Impact
     Initiative, a pilot program co-sponsored by the University Librarian
     and the Vice Chancellor for Research to cover publication charges
     for open-access journals.

     "Faculty, post-doc and graduate students can apply for up to $3,000 to
     cover the cost of publishing an article in an open-access publication.
     The fund also gives up to $1,500 for the cost of so-called hybrid
     publications' paid access fees, where information is freely
     available but the journal limits the right to redistribute. The
     pilot program will last 18 months or until the initial $125,000
     fund runs out. The hope - and challenge - is to find a permanent
     funding source.
     http://www.arl.org/sparc/publications/articles/memberprofile-berkeley.shtml

Relevant Past Postings:

Berkeley Press's Advice to Universities on Institutional Repositories
http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/359-guid.html

Publishing Reform, University Self-Publishing and Open Access
http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/57-guid.html

Stevan Harnad