>  Ok folks--I'm not on Facebook or My space, and have no intention
> of getting on them, but I sort of know what they are, from
> hearsay. Now there's Twitter. Would someone please explain the
> attraction of this one for  anthropologists?

> Thanks
> Joanna

> -----Original Message-----
> From: open-access-anthropology@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:open-access-anthropology@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
> kerim
> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:44 AM

> Hi folks,

> First some history: Back in 2005-2006 a few of us tried to make a
> call to arms to push the AAA to adopt Open Access. Instead, the
> AAA went the other way and openly opposed legislation that would
> mandate OA for publicly funded research. At the 2006 AAA a bunch
> of us, including some people from within the AAA, met and
> discussed the issue at the annual meeting. The conclusion was
> that the AAA did already support self-archiving, and so we would
> focus on educating and promoting self- archiving among the
> membership. while continuing to lobby as best we can for broader
> support for OA within the AAA. With that in mind we set up this
> list and the OAA website and blog, as well as the self- archiving
> how-to document which can be found there:

> http://openaccessanthropology.org/
> http://blog.openaccessanthropology.org/

> Things pretty much drifted along, until Twitter hit the fan.
> Suddenly anthropologists started organizing in a way I've never
> seen before.
> Some new folks have come along to support OAA in various ways,
> and the Open Anthropology Coop (OAC) was founded:

> http://openanthcoop.ning.com/profiles/blogs/open-access-anthropol
> ogy

> All this seems to have sparked renewed interest in promoting OAA,
> which is fantastic. However, I don't personally find the Ning
> website to be very user friendly or conducive to strategizing and
> organizing.
> Moreover we already have an existing community of 101 people on
> this list, so I'm encouraging people to come over her and sign up
> if they are interested in helping out.

> So now what? That's really up to you all. I'd like to see ideas
> for further educating the AAA membership about the issues
> involved in OA, as well as why they should self-archive, as well
> as discussions about how we can promote OA within the AAA. What
> shouldn't go here, however, are discussions about transforming
> the AAA or creating alternative structures. That belongs on the
> OAC/Ning website. The two of course are related, but think of
> this as the educational wing of the Open Anthropology movement!

> More specifically, I'd like to see concrete plans for action at
> this year's AAA. I won't be attending, but for those of you who
> are, and who care about these issues, I think it would be good to
> start planning early.

> Cheers,

> Kerim