The DOAJ and Why We Need It

A key Web 2.0 concept says that information is shared with the purpose of interacting and building knowledge on the Web.
Just that statement, alone, tells me that open access journals are exactly what is needed to provide information to it's readers so that knowledge can be learned. I can only see the positives in having open access journals.
The Directory of Open Access Journals stemmed from a discussion, in 2002, that centered around the importance of the valuable knowledge available from scholarly journals. The members of the discussion panel wanted to create a comprehensive directory of all the journals that allow open access, and make it available to individuals, universities, libraries and research centers. Thus, the DOAJ was created and is operated by the Lund University Library in Sweden.
To be a member, one must pay a fee, different prices exist for different members - individuals, consortiums, organizations - and the costs create a financial base to allow continued development and the operation of the DOAJ. The directory is used world wide by authors to find journals to which they can submit their work, as well as by readers to find articles written by their collegues and for research purposes. In Canada, several universities are members, including the University of British Columbia Library and Simon Fraser University Library.
The DOAJ service allows it's members access to the free, full text scientific and scholarly journals. There are nearly 4000 journals and almost 265000 articles in the directory. It's goal is to increase the visibility and ease of use of journals, thereby increasing their usage overall as a means to information literacy.
I stand alongside Willinski of UBC in the belief that open access journals are a valuable item to help build knowledge.
The above information on the DOAJ and more can be found at http:www.doag.org/doaj?func=home