I do not perceive too many differences between Open Access and just regular periodical databases on the Leatherby Library. The only real difference I notice is the money associated with the databases. Open Access databases are free to the consumer. Although there may be fees associated, they are not paid by us. They are paid by the author or some other source. The regular databases require special access and cannot be available to everyone. You must receive access from somewhere such as a University. They are not free to us as the consumer. The University will pay the fees to have access to these, which we in turn pay in the way of tuition. I assume that the regular databases may be a little more reliable due to the fact that someone along the line found it necessary to pay the author for publication. This leads me to believe that they are better respected by their peers.