Open Access - Möglichkeiten und Grenzen

Open Access is broadly understood as free access to scholarly works. In 2003, a majority of German scientific organizations signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access, with further endorsements following. The Berlin Declaration calls for information in a knowledge society to be widely disseminated and made accessible to everyone. It also emphasizes that new media, such as the internet, should be fully utilized for this purpose. This declaration represented perhaps the most significant step in the promotion and awareness of Open Access in Germany, particularly as the timing of its release was highly favorable. For a long time, the question of free access to scientific information did not arise, as technical barriers made such widespread reproduction impossible. However, these barriers have been removed with the increasing digitization.