The document summarizes a message from the Commissioner for Culture and Education at the German Federal Foreign Office regarding open access. The commissioner notes that open access is now an important issue on the European political agenda. He welcomes an initiative by the German Commission for UNESCO to publish a handbook about open access to draw public attention to its opportunities and challenges. Given the complexity of issues and variety of participants in the open access debate, wide-ranging discussion is needed. The commissioner is grateful to all those involved in the workshop that helped develop the idea for the handbook.

1. Message from the Commissioner for Culture and Education at the German Federal Foreign Office
德國外交部文化教育局局長致辭
The issue of Open Access is no longer a matter just for specialists, it is now firmly on the European
political agenda. In February 2007 – during the German EU Presidency – the European Commission
published a Communication on scientific information in the digital age. The Open Access issue has
considerable implications also for cultural relations and educational policy, as became clear at a
conference held at the Federal Foreign Office in October 2006 under the motto “Investing in People –
the role of culture and education in German foreign policy”. The purpose of the conference was to
bring together representatives of the political, business, academic and cultural communities to discuss,
in the cultural relations and education context, the difficult balance to be struck in a modern
information society between, on the one hand, copyright and the protection of intellectual property, and
on the other, the principle of unhindered access to science and education.
開放近不再祗是專家的事, 現在已經排上歐洲的政治行事曆。2007 年 2 月, 在德國擔任歐盟輪值
主席國時, 歐盟執行委員會出版一份有關數位時代科學資訊的通訊文件。2006 年 10 月, 德國外
交部主持一項會議, '投資公眾: 德國外交政策裏的文化與教育角色', 從文化關係及教育政策的角
度, 提出開放近用的議題。政治、商業、學術與文化社群的代表, 齊聚一堂, 討論文化關係與教育
內容, 一邊是著作權與保護智慧財產, 另一邊是無障礙近用科學與教育的原則, 在當代的資訊社會
裡, 很難取得其間的平衡點。
Given the variety and number of participants in the Open Access debate – academics in a host of
different disciplines, scientific organisations, libraries and publishers and so on – as well as the sheer
complexity of the issues involved, a wide-ranging and intensive discussion is clearly indispensable.
開放近用的辯論裡, 各學科的學者、科學組織、圖書館與出版社等參與者, 加上複雜的議題, 必須
有廣泛及深入的討論。
I therefore greatly welcome the initiative of the German Commission for UNESCO – a Federal Foreign
Office partner organisation – to publish a handbook designed to draw the attention of a wider public to
the opportunities and challenges of Open Access. The idea for such a handbook was elaborated at a
workshop for stakeholders in the Open Access debate organised by the German Commission for
UNESCO on 26 January 2007 at the Federal Foreign Office during the German EU Presidency.
因此, 我歡迎教科文組織德國委員會的行動, 成為德國外交部為合作單位, 出版此手冊, 提請公眾
注意開放近用的機會與挑戰。此手冊的創意, 來自 2007 年元月 26 日, 德國擔任歐盟輪值主席國
時, 由教科文組織德國委員會組織, 在德國外交部舉行的研討會, 參與對開放近用討論的各方。
I am most grateful to the German Commission for UNESCO as well as the handbook’s authors and the
experts who took part in the workshop for their commitment and hard work. The Federal Foreign
Office is pleased to have supported both the workshop and the handbook.
感謝教科文組織德國委員會以及此手冊的著作人, 以及參與研討會的專家, 他們的貢獻與辛勤的
工作; 德國外交部很高興支持此研討會與手冊。
Rolf-Dieter Schnelle
羅爾夫-迪特・施奈雷
p. 11
Open Access: Opportunities and Challenges. A handbook [開放近用 : 機會及挑戰] / European
Commission, German Commission for UNESCO. -- Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of
the European Communities, 2008. -- 144 p., 14.8 x 21.0 cm. -- ISBN 978-92-79-06665-8. -- EUR
23459, http://tinyurl.com/3q8wo5