Open Access News notes this story from Google Blog about a father who was able to prevent an unnecessary, extremely dangerous medical procedure on his two week old newborn son. The boy had been brought to an ER with extremely low hemoglobin. When the doctor recommended the emergency procedure, the father quickly searched using Google via his mobile phone and found an OA article which indicated that the low hemoglobin, while rare, would likely reverse itself.

While it is unlikely that OA in the field of Computers and Writing would ever have this life saving result, this story well represents why OA is more than just a publishing practice; it's an example of the importance of making scholarly knowledge publicly available. OA is just the right thing to do. Why do academics continue to do the wrong thing?