1) "A Fight for Free Access to Medical Research: Online Plan Challenges Publishers' Dominance." Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer. Tuesday, August 5, 2003; Page A01. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19104-2003Aug4.html An article in today's Washington Post about the Public Library of Science. The article prominently features Stanford's Michael Keller, chair of the DLF Executive Committee, and also contains a response to open access from an Elsevier Vice President. Well worth your time to read. ********************************** 2) MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND RICE UNIVERSITY ARE LATEST DIGITAL LIBRARY FEDERATION MEMBERS Washington, D.C. -- The Digital Library Federation is pleased to announce that two new Strategic Partners, MIT and Rice University, have joined in July 2003. "We are very pleased that these two organizations accepted our invitation to join," said David Seaman, Director of the DLF. "We are a relatively small and fast-moving consortium of very active academic digital libraries and we treat growth cautiously, lest it undermine our nimbleness of operation; however, the addition of expertise from Rice and MIT will enrich our understanding of the use of digital library resources in research and teaching, and will accelerate our engagement with institutional repositories, courseware systems, and digital preservation." Upon accepting the invitation to join DLF, Ann Wolpert, Director of the MIT Libraries, said "the programs of the Digital Library Federation map in important ways to the research and development priorities of the MIT Libraries. We welcome the opportunity to work with our colleagues in the DLF, and look forward to advancing our commitment to this strategic domain through membership in this influential organization for digital library projects." Charles Henry, Vice President and CIO, Rice University, adds that "Rice is honored by the invitation to join the Digital Library Federation. The DLF has assumed a compelling leadership role for one of the most complex phenomena of the information age. Rice looks forward to both learning from and contributing to this fundamental program." The Digital Library Federation, founded in 1995, is a partnership organization of academic libraries and related organizations that are pioneering the use of electronic-information technologies to extend their collections and services. Through its members, the DLF provides leadership for libraries by identifying standards and "best practices" for digital collections and network access; coordinating research and development in the libraries' use of technology; and helping to initiate projects and services that libraries need but cannot develop individually. The DLF operates under the administrative umbrella of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). **********