Libraries vs. The Internet - January 19, 2006 - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper

Libraries vs. The Internet - January 19, 2006 - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper: "John Willinsky's new book begins - quite effectively - by describing how rising prices and a fluctuating currency have forced the Kenya Medical Research Institute to cancel most of its subscriptions to medical journals. The true shame, the institute's librarian told Mr. Willinsky, is that that the five titles the library could still afford did not include any leading journals on the institute's prime research focus, tropical diseases.

Libraries, publishers, and the contributors to the journals, Mr. Willinsky argues in 'The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship' (MIT Press, 287 pages, $35), are at the center of a global economic struggle that may determine the influence of scholarship on the world. Access to research and scholarship is in decline, as for-profit publishers drive up the cost of scholarly journals, forcing libraries to decimate their subscription lists."