On Wed, 1 Jul 2009, Gavin Baker wrote:
> Dr. Harnad,
>
> I know you are an advocate for the "eprint request button" for
> repositories. Do you know of any studies or data on how widespread use
> of these buttons is, and how frequently such requests are granted?
>
> In the handful of times I've used such a button, I have gotten either no
> response or have been declined.
Dear Gavin,
Apologies for the delay in responding.
I don't have any data yet. I've branched your query to the EPrints and
DSpace lists. Perhaps someone may already have some data.
My guess is that it is too early for informative stats. The instances
are too few; the practice is not yet widesread enough, so authors are
really not entirely clear on what they are doing. (Neither are most IR
managers.)
However, I thin this will be changing, as more deposit mandates are
adopted, and the logic of the ID/OA Mandate (Immediate Deposit, Optional
Access: Either immediate OA, or Closed Access plus Button) becomes
better understood. Then IRs will clearly inform their authors about best
practice, and both the IDOA Mandate and the Button will at last come
into their own.
Although OA and OA policy are in fact very simple and straightforward,
they are apparently novel enough, relative to what authors have been
doing for decades, that it takes more time than one (and certainly I!)
might have expected for the message to get through, and understood, and
put into practice.
Or so I am told, anyway, by those who keep advising me to be patient!
Best wishes,
Stevan
> --
> Gavin Baker
> http://www.gavinbaker.com/
Received on Mon Jul 20 2009 - 00:36:11 BST