I am a first year master's student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I am still getting used to the world of academia, but I know accessibility to high-quality, diverse, and most importantly complete journal articles will be crucial to completing my degree!

Before learning about OpenCon, I had no idea the profit margins of publishers were so astronomically high. To be honest, I did not even know that accessibility was this big of an issue, as I have been lucky enough to have always received access to articles I sought through my institution's subscriptions. However, I believe access to information should not be a privilege reserved only for those in academia, but made accessible to all as a right. And for those in higher education, restrictions to accessing articles are completely unacceptable as research is a required component of virtually any degree.

As a Public Policy student, I'm interested in what role (if any) the government currently plays, or how government can be involved to empower the movement. I'm fairly new to the concept of Open Access and looking forward to learning more at OpenCon. I am also curious how the issue differs in Canada compared to the United States and other parts of the world.

Following OpenCon, I will be more knowledgeable about Open Access and can educate others at my university about its importance. Whether I end up in the public or private sector, research is likely to be something I will be involved with in my career. I can discuss Open Access with my colleagues, and fellow researchers. I'm fortunate enough to attend an institution that already is educated and passionate about the cause, as I found out about OpenCon through the school library! I am more than confident that after attending OpenCon, I can take part in and make a meaningful contribution to my university's advocacy week next year.

In this information age, there is no excuse for limited accessibility. Sharing is easier than ever with the widespread use of the Internet. Looking at the attendees, people from all over the world are traveling to this conference to tackle this issue. I'm excited to hear the different perspectives and experiences of speakers, delegates, and workshop facilitators! The workshop that piques my interest the most is the text/data mining workshop.

Looking forward to this experience! See you in DC.

Licensed CC BY 4.0