[Open-access] Introducing: Who Needs Access? You Need Access!

Fri Feb 17 09:18:25 UTC 2012

On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 1:42 AM, Mike Taylor <mike at indexdata.com> wrote:

> Folks, I mentioned on the EtherPad the other day that I have been
> working on a site to highlight the problem of what Peter Has called
> "The Scholarly Poor".  I think we need something bold and clear that
> doesn't go into too much technical detail, and that provides a lot of
> personal stories that people can relate to.
>
> I'm now ready to unveil PRIVATELY (i.e. only to this group) the
> embryonic site, which is at
>        http://youneedaccess.wordpress.com/
>
> Please take a look around -- there is not much content yet, but I
> think probably just enough to show how it will work.  Each new
> interview/profile will be posted as part of the "Latest News" stream,
> and also be linked from the category list on the right and on the home
> page.  Aside from these main articles, I don't envisage much more on
> the site: just the home page, the About page and probably a FAQ.  I
> think we should probably avoid using it as a forum for writing about
> related issues ourselves and keep it tightly focussed.
>
> I am looking a few things:
>
> 1. Comments, criticism, suggestions.  You can leave these as comments
> on the pages of the site, or email me (or this group) if you prefer.
> 2. A sense of whether this is more or less what we all intended, and
> so whether the site can be part of @ccess.
> 3. Other people to join me in maintaining the site: we should really
> have three or more editors to give the sense of a group.
> 4. Ideas of who to interview.  [At the moment, the two "interviews" on
> the site are faked up from comments made in email and on blogs, and
> found on websites.  They will need to be redone or replaced before we
> go public.]
>

Excellent - even though I haven't managed to login yet (do I have to be a
wordpress user).

I am assuming we are intending to release this material as it becomes
appropriate - possibly in phases. There's nothing wrong with having small
groups of people working on projects off-air as long as it's clear that
it's temporary. If there is confidential material that's harder and will
require some careful thought.

I had a very good talk with the IPO (about Hargreaves) and they are
particularly looking for coherent, unemotional, evidence-based
presentations. It's difficult to devise an ethical double-blind trial about
the value of medical information, but that is not the only persuasive
material. Statements from authorities and peer-reviewed publications are
very valuable. Jenny made a great start on open-science.

P.

-- 
Peter Murray-Rust
Reader in Molecular Informatics
Unilever Centre, Dep. Of Chemistry
University of Cambridge
CB2 1EW, UK
+44-1223-763069
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