The Market for technical and scientific books in Brazil: public subsidy and access to knowledge

The Brazilian government has been promoting, through its institutions, a series of measures to grant the access to knowledge. Some examples are the initiatives from the Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology Information (IBICT) in promoting the “open” or “free access” to cientific production; the Public Domain Portal from the Ministry of Education (MEC) which offers texts in public domain, as well as academic theses; the policy from the Coordination for Higher Education Improvement (CAPES), making available through the internet all new Brazilian theses and ssertations; and the incentive to the use of “free licenses” in several content types fostered by the Ministry of Culture (MinC). However, such measures are still marginal given the potential of the government actions scope. They are much more the result of isolated efforts from public agencies than the fruit of an articulated national policy. The potential of promoting access to information and knowledge is huge if considering the possibility of extending such policies to all ministries and government secretaries and agencies, as well as to state and municipal dministrations. Research, studies, technical reports, primary data in several areas such as environmental and aero-spatial, are only a few examples of information which could be made available to the public without the restrictions of traditional copyright licensing.