The exchanges on this list proceed so quickly that often I feel the
discussion has moved on too far by the time I get around to replying
to any message, but I would like to pick up on Helene's and Stevan's
views of the Berlin "roadmap".
I agree with Helene that it would be good to have some of the BOAI
"enthusiasm" in the roadmap and I also agree with Stevan that we need
"concrete" actions. In fact over the past two years all of us have been
trying to apply the open access enthusiasm in concrete ways, and I am sure
that Robert and Theresa want the roadmap to be seen as both enthusiastic
and concrete.
So far as I am aware, the only version of the roadmap currently available
is the very preliminary version discussed in Geneva, and this version is
to be revised following further discussion. Several of us who were at
the CERN meeting expressed doubts about specific points in the roadmap
as presented, and although I have not seen any reply from Theresa or
Robert to Helene's or Stevan's comments, I expect that they will welcome
the input before a final version is agreed. The final version should
have the backing of both research and library communities and should be
realistic in respect of both roads to open access.
Frederick J. Friend
OSI Open Access Advocate
JISC Consultant
Honorary Director Scholarly Communication UCL
E-mail ucylfjf_at_ucl.ac.uk
Mail address: The Chimes, Cryers Hill Road,
High Wycombe, England HP15 6JS
Telephone +44 1494 563168 or +44 7747 627738 (mobile)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stevan Harnad" <harnad_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
To: <AMERICAN-SCIENTIST-OPEN-ACCESS-FORUM_at_LISTSERVER.SIGMAXI.ORG>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 10:34 PM
Subject: Re: May 12 CERN meeting on implementing the Berlin Declaration
> The Berlin Declaration, however, and its implementation, is another
> matter. It cannot be allowed to provide only, or even primarily, for the
> objectives of the library community (publishing reform). OA is primarily
> for research and researchers, as Helene Bosc (a librarian!) clearly
> noted; it is provided by and for researchers, and the primary means of
> providing it is self-archiving. David may be satisfied with the current
> size (5%) and growth rate (not yet known) of OA via OA journal publishing,
> but research and researchers certainly should not be.
>
> The Schloegl/Velden Roadmap, in its current form, does not reflect the
> need of the research community for immediate OA; it reflects only the
> desire of the library community for eventual OA publishing. This needs
> to be remedied. Moreover, the Roadmap, which is meant to be a concrete
> implementation of the abstract principles in the Berlin Declaration, is
> nothing of the sort. It just consists of more vague principles, and aimed
> mostly at eventual publishing re-form, not at immediate OA provision.
>
> This needs to be corrected, with a concrete Roadmap for the provision of
> OA, by and for researchers, not just the possible/eventual re-form of
> publishing in the direction of OA publishing.
>
> David has chosen publishing re-form, I have chosen immediate OA
> provision. But the Schloegl/Velden Roadmap, apart from being exceedingly
> vague and saying nothing concrete about implementation (except that it
> would be a good idea to subsidize authors' OA journal publishing costs)
> is, like David, focussed exclusively on 3, and ignoring 1 entirely. (There
> is no "2": Archives don't need developing: they need filling!)
>
> Stevan Harnad
>
Received on Wed May 26 2004 - 17:03:17 BST