Petition the White House to Open Access to taxpayer-funded research

Note: This message is copied verbatim from a District Dispatch email.

Who:You! And anyone you know who supports libraries and supports increasing access to information - especially research that you (the public) helped fund.

What:
A petition is posted at "We the People" asking the White House to require the published results of taxpayer-funded research be made available via the Internet (without having to pay an additional fee to access the research).

When:
Now! 25,000 signatures must be secured by June 19 to ensure the White House will respond.

Where:Go to wh.gov/6TH electronically sign the petition. It's that easy!

Why:Why not?! The petition asks the White House to build upon the tremendously successful National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy implemented more than four years ago and now has 500,000 users accessing and downloading two million articles a day.

But wait, there's more! The petition's request to the White House essentially mirrors active legislation - the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 (FRPAA) (S. 2096, H.R. 4004) - that would extend the NIH model to make available taxpayer-funded research of an additional 11 federal departments and agencies! Increased access would allow librarians the ability to better assist patrons with their information and research needs as well as allow direct access by the public.

Please spread the word by forwarding, posting and tweeting (#openaccess), etc.!

Corey Williams
Associate Director, Office of Government Relations
American Library Association