
Open-Access JSTOR Database Accessible to the Public - shliachtx
http://www.universitytimes.ie/2020/03/jstor-makes-database-accessible-to-the-public/
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cryptonector
I'm still angry over the ridiculous overcharging of Swartz and his suicide. I
hope Carmen Ortiz never gets another job in law enforcement or politics again,
ever, and I shall donate to any primary or general election opponent of hers
if she ever runs for any office higher than dog catcher.

~~~
ogn3rd
I was just thinking the same thing.

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gardenfelder
This quote from the piece, and checking at the website to confirm, says
nothing about _public_ "“We are working with publishers to make more than
20,000 books available at no charge for JSTOR participating academic
institutions and secondary schools that do not participate in our books
program”, the statement said. “The number of books available through this
effort is growing daily as more publishers opt in.”"

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interweb
Makes me think of Aaron Swartz RIP
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)

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ce4
I thought the same, the JSTOR incident initially brought me to HN. Discussed
at the time:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5046845](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5046845)

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oefrha
> Updated title: Open-Access JSTOR Database Accessible to the Public

> Correction: 19:42, March 19th, 2020

> A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that JSTOR had made
> previously unavailable ebooks and journals accessible to the public for the
> first time. In fact, the materials in question have been available to the
> public for some time. The headline, subheading and body of this article have
> been updated to reflect this information.

What’s accessible here is open access in the first place. I don’t see evidence
of anything being opened up additionally as a response to the pandemic. Move
on, nothing to see here.

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sp332
This isn't new according to JSTOR
[https://twitter.com/JSTOR/status/1240349642191245314](https://twitter.com/JSTOR/status/1240349642191245314)
Sounds like the author just misread something. (Oh there's a correction at the
bottom already.)

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gradstudent
> The database is also working to expand on the amount of free content
> available online to students

Don't worry JSTOR, Alexandra's got your back. [http://sci-hub.tw](http://sci-
hub.tw)

Seriously though, to hell with paywalls and artificial barriers imposed on
publicly funded papers by no-value-added rent-seeking publishers such as those
whose material is archived by JSTOR.

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acruns
WOW!

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elviejo
Nice it only took a global pandemic to accomplish the free sharing of
information that Aaron Swartz was trying to accomplish:

"In 2011, Swartz was arrested by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
police on state breaking-and-entering charges, after connecting a computer to
the MIT network in an unmarked and unlocked closet, and setting it to download
academic journal articles systematically from JSTOR...

Swartz declined a plea bargain under which he would have served six months in
federal prison. Two days after the prosecution rejected a counter-offer by
Swartz, he was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment, where he had hanged
himself."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)

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zozbot234
Aaron Swartz was trying to share pre-1923 articles (this was basically the
cutoff for public domain content in the U.S. at the time, ignoring more
challenging issues such as whether the copyright was renewed and whether that
actually means that a post-1920s item might be in the public domain). JSTOR
has actually been making _that_ content broadly available for quite some time.

~~~
cjbprime
I think you've confused Aaron Swartz with Greg Maxwell.

[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110912/10132515906/jstor...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110912/10132515906/jstor-
freely-releases-public-domain-papers-that-greg-maxwell-already-freed.shtml)

