<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Folks,<div><br></div><div>The Obama Administration is actively considering taking action to open up the results of research funded by taxpayer dollars, by making scientific articles freely available online.<br> <br>A petition (<a href="http://wh.gov/6TH">wh.gov/6TH</a>) calling for Public Access to all Federally Funded Research has been posted to the White House "We the People" website. If the petition garners <b>25,000 signatures within 30 days</b>, it <b>will</b> be reviewed by White House staff, and <b>considered for action</b>. <br> <br>We’re halfway there – more than 12,500 people have signed the petition since it was posted just two and half days ago! Researchers, patients groups, universities, libraries, students, businesses and families have all thrown their support behind this simple yet powerful idea – to make taxpayer-funded research freely accessible to the public. Learn more about why by watching this one-minute video (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FoYxzPZDuw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FoYxzPZDuw</a>).<br> <br>Sign the petition (<a href="http://wh.gov/6TH">wh.gov/6TH</a>) today, and encourage your colleagues, friends and family to do the same. You are eligible to sign if you are at least 13 years old, and have a valid email address. That’s all.<br> <br>Signing is easy, it’s fast, and it can have an enormous impact on our chances of expanding access to the results of scientific research that we have helped to fund. So take some time today to not only sign onto the petition, but to spread the word far and wide. Consider a blog post, an email to constituencies, a tweet (use #openaccess), a Facebook share, an action in your library or on your campus - anything that tells as many people as possible "I support this petition, I'm signing this petition, and you should, too." <br> <br>Thanks in advance for your support for this effort - it is truly a critical time, and taking this action now *can* make a difference!<br> <div>Best,</div><div><br></div><div>Andrea</div><div><br></div><div>-- <br>Andrea Brusca Higginbotham<br>Communications Manager, SPARC<br>21 Dupont Circle, Suite 800<br>Washington, DC 20036<br>(202) 296-2296 ext 121<br><a href="mailto:andrea@arl.org">andrea@arl.org</a><br><a href="http://www.arl.org/sparc">www.arl.org/sparc</a><br><br>Open Access Week 2012<br>October 22-28<br><a href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/">http://www.openaccessweek.org/</a><br><br>NEW! SPARC Daily: <a href="http://paper.li/SPARC_NA/1334596809">http://paper.li/SPARC_NA/1334596809</a></div></div></body></html>