Students Launch Open Access Button to Map the Impact of Paywalls : Open Access Now

"On Monday, the Open Access Button was launched at the Berlin 11 Student and Early Stage Researcher Satellite Conference. The Open Access Button is a new browser plugin that allows users to report when they hit a paywall and cannot access a research article. After a user reports not being able to access research, the Open Access Button records the user’s location, their profession, and why they were looking for the research. The software then integrates this information onto a map to create a real time, worldwide, interactive picture of the access problem. Three days after the launch, the Open Access Button has approximately 1,900 users and has mapped 873 paywalls.  One of the most remarkable facts about the button was that it was created by two students, David Carroll and Joseph McArthur ... The frustration inspired a great idea, and after teaming up with the Right to Research Coalition and a team of volunteer developers, the Open Access Button was born. In the spirit of openness, Open Access Button is licensed under CC-BY and a MIT open source license. Additionally, the data will be open for researchers ... Learn more about the button with the Open Access Button Info Sheet.  Sign up to get your own button at openaccessbutton.org ..."