Re: Librarians and OA advocacy

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:25:14 +0100

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007, Frederick Friend wrote:

> many members of the library community... are
> already doing what Andrew Adams suggests. Many institutional repositories
> are already being managed by librarians and many library directors are
> working with their university management to secure mandates. The quantity of
> content in repositories would not be as high as it is now were it not for
> the efforts of librarians... All librarians have to work within the policies of
> their institution and some do not have as much freedom of action as others,
> but many understand and have no problem with the way in which their role is
> changing.

Fred is quite right: The fault for the unconscionably long delay in
reaching OA lies first and foremost with those who are at the same time
its ostensible providers and its principal beneficiaries: the researchers
themselves! If they had had any sense, we would not even need Green OA
mandates. So in Dante's circles of obloquy, researchers go straight to
the 9th, whereas (some) librarians only do some time in the 1st. (Other
librarians, of course, are already rightfully perched aside the Seraphim,
sub specie aeternitatis.)

Stevan Harnad
Received on Mon Apr 23 2007 - 19:07:26 BST