Coalition praises federal Access Act.

A coalition of national library associations has praised the introduction of the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut), would require federal agencies with extramural research portfolios of more than $100 million to make the electronic versions of peer-reviewed articles publicly available via the Internet within 6 months of publication.

"Far too often the results of research that the U.S. government funds--with billions of taxpayer dollars each year--are not broadly available to researchers, scientists, physicians and members of the public. This legislation will greatly expand public access while at the same time, ensure that these articles generated with federal support are available to future generations," said Prudence S. Adler, a spokesperson for the coalition.

Enhanced public access to publicly funded research spurs innovation and competition by accelerating research, sharing knowledge, improving treatment of diseases, and supports the educational enterprise.

In addition to SLA, the coalition is made up of the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Medical Library Association. These associations collectively represent more than 139,000 libraries in the United States employing 350,000 librarians and library workers.