On January 15, 2005, a standing-room-only crowd of librarians listened as a panel of experts, moderated by Columbia University's Jim Neal, voiced support for the National Institute of Health's (NIH) proposal to mandate free online access to the research it funds. This article briefly discusses some personal accounts where open access would have…

Examines three key federal information issues from an economic perspective: what information the government should make available to the public; whether government information should be disseminated via governmental or private means; and whether costs of transmission should be borne by the public at large or by the information user. (CDD)

This document begins by presenting the text of "Technology & U.S. Government Information Policies: Catalysts for New Partnerships," which is the third report of the Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format. Topics covered by the report include the impact of technology, private sector roles and government…