Apologies for failing to mention CERN's wonderful self-archiving software
http://cdsware.cern.ch/ (and many thanks to Helene Bosc and JY Le Meur
for promptly pointing out my error!). Yes, all software for facilitating
institutional research self-archiving is eagerly and gratefully
welcomed! The only thing to avoid at all costs is being held back from
self-archiving still longer than we have alas already been, because, like
Buridan's Donkey, we are now paralysed contemplating the free-software
options -- instead of picking one and getting on with it!
Chrs, Stevan
On Tue, 11 Feb 2003, Jean-Yves Le Meur wrote:
> I want to add to Stevan's remark that the free availability of many
> different software for self-archiving is intended to boost the OA
> movement, not to slow it down !
> And if CERN has also released last year its document server as GNU (from
> <http://cdsware.cern.ch>), it is with the idea that it may fit well the
> needs of some large institutions willing to start self archiving in a
> similar way as it is done at CERN - and not at all to compete with
> eprints.org.
>
> I do hope that more and more OAI-compliant software will emerge in the
> coming years and that they will offer a large range of solutions among
> which institutions can freely choose !
>
>
> JY Le Meur.
>
>
> CERN Document Server Project Leader ** <http://cds.cern.ch/> **
> <cds.support_at_cern.ch> Room: Bldg 510-1-011 ** Voice: +41-22-7674745 **
> Fax: +41-22-7678142
>
>
> On Tue, 11 Feb 2003, Stevan Harnad wrote:
>
> > It is rather ironic that a choice between two free self-archiving
> > softwares should lately be holding up self-archiving!
> >
> > "Should I use http://www.eprints.org/ or http://www.dspace.org/
> > as my Institutional Self-Archiving Software?
> >
> > The short answer is: It doesn't matter! Use either one!
> >
> > EPrints and DSpace are both free, both open-source, both OAI-compliant,
> > both interoperable, both equivalent in the functionality relevant to
> > self-archiving, and even both written initially by the same programmer
> > (Southampton's Rob Tansley)!
> >
> > The two free software packages are of comparable
> > complexity, both built using established technologies. So
> > choose one http://software.eprints.org/#sites or the other
> > http://dspace.org/people/early-adopt.html and start self-archiving!
> > (And if you should change your mind about the software, you can switch
> > and migrate your archive's content from one to the other later.)
> >
> > Because the real 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority today is not
> > software-choice but *content*: *filling* those institutional
> > archives as soon as possible with all your institution's refereed
> > research output, so as to maximise its potential research impact
> > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/unto-others.html -- which
> > is otherwise being needlessly lost, daily.
> >
> > Thus the only option to be avoided at all costs is "ESpace": an
> > empty or non-existent institutional archive! The best way to
> > ensure the filling of your institutional refereed research
> > archives is to adopt an institutional self-archiving policy
> > http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/#institution-facilitate-filling such
> > as http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~lac/archpol.html or even a national one:
> > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/Ariadne-RAE.doc
> >
> > The California Institute of Technology http://library.caltech.edu/digital/
> > is developing an institutional self-archiving strategy
> > for its Caltech Collection of Open Digital Archives (CODA)
> > -- a strategy other institutions may find worth emulating
> > http://library.caltech.edu/evdv/CODA.ppt
> >
> > So please do take your choice of the two free softwares; the differences
> > are trivial. And then get on to the far more important part: Filling
> > those archives, by self-archiving all your institutional research output!
> >
> > Stevan Harnad
> >
> > NOTE: A complete archive of the ongoing discussion of providing open
> > access to the peer-reviewed research literature online is available at
> > the American Scientist September Forum (98 & 99 & 00 & 01 & 02):
> >
> > http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.html
> > or
> > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/index.html
> >
> > Discussion can be posted to: american-scientist-open-access-forum_at_amsci.org
> >
> > See also the Budapest Open Access Initiative:
> > http://www.soros.org/openaccess
> >
> > the Free Online Scholarship Movement:
> > http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/timeline.htm
> >
> > the OAI site:
> > http://www.openarchives.org
> >
> > and the self-archiving FAQ:
> > http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/
> >
>
Received on Tue Feb 11 2003 - 13:42:13 GMT