November 1, 2007

Peter Suber interview & profile

And here I was hoping to interview Peter Suber some day for my series...but I don't think there are any questions left!

It's a great profile and interview by Richard Poynder on the Open and Shut? blog.

At the heart of Suber's ability to unite the movement is a commitment to what he calls "the big tent" — a tent from which no faction of the open access movement is excluded, and in which all shades of opinion are welcomed. His blog covers points of view he does not personally accept, but he gives them space to make their case before offering his own constructive, critical comments.

In his own analytic pieces, Suber often argues that the movement will make faster progress by harnessing differences than by quarrelling about them, but he does not hesitate to criticise ideas he believes are incorrect or untenable, even from allies. He achieves the difficult balance of being inclusive but not woolly-minded or indecisive.

The complete transcript of Poynder's coversations with Suber are here. Like I said, there is no Suber-stone left unturned in the 70 page interview transcript.

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