Open repertoires: open access to contents

Abstract

New information and communication technologies are modifying the mechanisms used by distinct communities to communicate among themselves. In academic or scientific communities, currently one must speak of open-access archives or the open access movement. Based on the principle of open access to knowledge, scientists are aware that the current systems of publishing and communicating their studies is more and more elitist and, consequently, exclusive. Within this framework, the first initiatives to create open archives for specialized documents appeared at the beginning of the 1990s. The aim was to facilitate access to these documents, which had hitherto been available only to those who could pay.