Anyone interested in the history and future of open-access research should check out this article in Science, written by Jocelyn Kaiser, on the growth of online, open-access journals over the last decade.
The article provides nice historical background on the birth of the open-access journal “movement,” beginning with the formation of the Public Library of Science and the launch of the NIH’s PubMed Central in 2000. It also summarizes various perspectives on open-access research, including opinions of publishers, scientists, and libraries.
In addition to the article itself, a podcast is available that includes an interview with the author.
(Via Digital and Scholarly.)