It's not exactly a novel reason, but I would certainly add under 1-
that it works faster and more efficiently in getting the information
disseminated.
Even the reviewing (of whatever form it takes) should be faster.
It may also work better at getting the information organized and
findable than the current less-than-rational division by journals and
the consequent indexing.
Jim Till wrote:
>
> As is his custom, Albert Henderson has focused his attention on his own
> perception of only one of the reasons (the "Library crisis") included in
> my short list of major reasons why the primary research literature should
> be freed (see below).
>
> So far, no novel reasons have been mentioned. Are there any?
>
> Jim Till
> University of Toronto
>
> On Thu, 16 Aug 2001, Albert Henderson wrote [in part]:
>
> [ah]> on Sat, 11 Aug 2001 Jim Till <till_at_UHNRES.UTORONTO.CA> wrote:
> >
> [jt]> But, what about reasons WHY the primary research literature should
> [jt]> be freed? Here's my first attempt at a summary of some of the main
> [jt]> reasons:
> [jt]>
> [jt]> 1. It should be done:
> [jt]>
> [jt]> - Information gap: Libraries and researchers in poor countries
> [jt]> can't afford most of the journals that they need.
> [jt]>
> [jt]> - Library crisis: Libraries and researchers in rich countries
> [jt]> can't afford some of the journals that they need.
> [jt]>
> [jt]> - Public property: The results of publicly-funded research
> [jt]> should be publicly-available.
> [jt]>
> [jt]> - Academic freedom: Censorship based on cost rather than
> [jt]> quality can't be justified.
> >
> [ah]>[snip]
> >
> [jt]> What other important reasons have I neglected?
> >
> [ah]> The most important motive behind the self-archiving
> [ah]> argument is that universities wish to unload the
> [ah]> profit-sapping burden of conserving knowledge. They
> [ah]> wish to reduce, perhaps eliminate, spending on
> [ah]> libraries.
>
> [remainder snipped]
--
David Goodman
Biology Librarian
and Digital Resources Researcher
Princeton University Library
Princeton, NJ 08544-0001
phone: 609-258-3235
fax: 609-258-2627
e-mail: dgoodman_at_princeton.edu
Received on Wed Jan 03 2001 - 19:17:43 GMT