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Reviews
The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship by John Willinsky
k8s's review
3.0
My primary complaint is that it seems shallow - Willinsky is trying to cover so much ground that he doesn't cover any of it in depth. Some of this superficiality includes not referencing research in related areas, and instead implying that this research hasn't been done (i.e. new media studies, online reading practices, online technical writing).
And he treats the issue of open access in a way that implies that everyone will have access to the material items necessary to access scholarly work if they are only 'printed' in digital environments - he actually suggests that having printed copies of journals takes away money better spent on open digitization. I'm all for increasing electronic access, but we shouldn't assume that all scholars (and he does discuss oa on a global scale) have access to technology, dependable electricity, etc.
And he treats the issue of open access in a way that implies that everyone will have access to the material items necessary to access scholarly work if they are only 'printed' in digital environments - he actually suggests that having printed copies of journals takes away money better spent on open digitization. I'm all for increasing electronic access, but we shouldn't assume that all scholars (and he does discuss oa on a global scale) have access to technology, dependable electricity, etc.
huncamuncamouse's review against another edition
1.0
A thorough--if not somewhat repetitive--introduction to the advantages of open access.
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