MIT Libraries fight DRM, and win

I’m so proud of the MIT Libraries. Today in LJAN I read that a yearlong effort to get the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) to drop their DRM plan has succeeded. Coming on the tail of the OCW/Elsevier announcement it is clear that MIT is really making a name for itself as a defender of openness. I can’t say I’m surprised by that, knowing a bit about MIT’s culture, but I am so very pleased.

Also commendable is the persistence the MIT Libraries displayed with the SAE matter and the involvement of faculty.

“We interested a couple of our faculty in the cause who are Fellows of the SAE,” [MIT librarian Tracy] Gabridge explained. “One in particular talked with colleagues at other universities and ultimately presented his objections to DRM at an SAE Publications Board Meeting last April at their national conference.”

One step at a time, marvelous work MIT!