15.1 Open access journal literature is an open educational resource  (Page 4/16)

Another educational context for journal literature is as optional reading for secondary or tertiary students. An interested student may (perhaps for extra credit in the course) volunteer to read journal articles related to class topics. Again, here broad access enriches the educational experience.

3. journal literature as learning content for self-learners

If one considers education as lifelong learning , then journal literature must be acknowledged as learning content with great value for self-learners.

Many parents of children with uncured diseases have an unquenchable thirst for information about the condition – particularly for rare diseases which receive little coverage in the mainstream press. Journal articles which report original research are of incredible value to help parents understand their child’s condition. Unfortunately, many of these parents express frustration with obtaining access to relevant literature. (Many organizations which represent these parents are members of the Alliance for Taxpayer Access for this very reason.)

Less dramatically, newspapers report daily on the latest findings of scientists and health research. Usually, the coverage reports findings originally published in a peer-reviewed journal. But the curious reader who desires to read the original paper himself is frequently stymied, not having a subscription to the journal. (For a light-hearted example to the contrary, see this recent article from the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which points readers to an article deposited in the arXiv .)

Going a step further, consider that prized tool of self-learners, Wikipedia . Imagine if each Wikipedia article on a scientific subject was fully referenced (a goal of the project). Imagine further that each citation linked to a freely-available copy of a relevant journal article. Those links would prove tremendously valuable to the self-learner who aspires to deepen his understanding of the topic. ⁶

Beyond access barriers, removing permission barriers opens even more possibilities: translation , summary , annotation and commentary , to name a few.

4. journal literature as “raw materials” for re-use in free learning content

OA journal articles can be cited in free textbooks, listed as recommended reading at the end of a textbook chapter, included as learning modules (with or without annotation, translation, summary, etc.), or repurposed for use in other learning content (need a graph or illustration? Just borrow it!).

OA journal literature represents a broad body of scholarly-quality content, without price or permission barriers, available for re-use to enrich OERs.

Conclusion

I hope this post sparks a lively discussion to inaugurate the fall series of contributors. I look forward to discussing these issues with you.

Footnotes

[0] By way of disclaimer, the opinions in this post (and in any commentary that follows) are not those of my client or anyone else, and I claim sole responsibility for them.

[1] A third notable statement on OA, the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities , uses largely the same definition as the Bethesda Statement. Together, these statements are referred to as the “three B’s” of open access.