[Open-access] One small record box for RWTH Aachen University Archive, one giant leap for mankind

Tue Feb 21 23:27:58 UTC 2012

Yesterday, 21th February 2012, on my 54. birthday, I got as RWTH
Aachen university archivist a small record box from a professor's
widow, a very special donation. The professor, a physicist, has been
warning against the climate change already in the 1980's. But the
content of his papers isn't the reason I am so excited. The heirs have
given our archive not only exclusive copyrights for the whole work of
the researcher, they have also conceded to the public that the whole
work is available under CC-BY! This is the first time as far as I know
that all of the intellectual production of a scientist is really open
for re-use under CC-BY (except the cases he might have explicitely
transferred the copyright to publishers or learned societies).

Klaus