On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 3:48 PM, Heather Morrison wrote:
> If we assume that the OA archives (green) approach should be a first
> priority, it still makes a lot of sense to see the Springer Helmholtz
> agreement as a very useful interim step. =A0As all of us who have
> followed the Am Sci discussion list over the years know very well, one
> of the major obstacles to green OA mandates has been publisher
> opposition. =A0Having a major publisher like Springer takes important
> steps like this towards open access at once changes the conversation,
> as does cooperation from a group like Helmholtz.
> So congrats to Springer and Helmholtz!
(1) Springer has endorsed Green OA for years (and was congratulated
for it on the Sci Am list years ago).
(2) The Helmholtz Gold OA deal -- paying for Gold OA and not mandating
Green OA -- has nothing whatsoever to do with that.
(3) "If we assume that the OA archives (green) approach should be a
first priority" but instead pay for Gold OA, it is not at all clear
how this constitutes a "very useful interim step" rather than a rather
direct contradiction in terms? (If we assume that putting the horse in
front of the cart should be given priority over putting the cart in
front of the horse, and then we proceed to put the cart in front of
the horse, is that "a very useful interim step" too?)
See: "Springer's Already on the Side of the Angels: What's the Big
Deal?"
http://bit.ly/SpringerAngels
Stevan Harnad
Received on Tue Aug 24 2010 - 02:08:09 BST