Re: a preservation experience

[Steve Hitchcock <sh94r@ecs.soton.ac.uk>]

Keith, So you're not in favour of open access publishing :-) You are
entitled to say so. Before discriminating against OA publishing in the
context of preservation, can you elaborate in what sense the subscription
model has an advantage as far as preservation is concerned?

As far as I can see, open access publishers such as BioMed Central are
directing a part of the author fee to the production of preservable
digital formats, and the documents produced in this way are distributed,
and accessible, in multiple archives. It's a pretty good start as far as
preservation is concerned.

Steve Hitchcock
IAM Group, School of Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton SO17 1BJ,  UK
Email: sh94r@ecs.soton.ac.uk
Tel:  +44 (0)23 8059 3256     Fax: +44 (0)23 8059 2865

At 17:46 06/11/03 -0500, you wrote:
> I have also been giving a lot of thought to Eileen Fenton's excellent
> message.
>
> It seems to me that the fundamental issue embedded here for a long-term
> archiving solution (or solutions) is the need for one or more business
> models that can lead to stable long-term funding for the effort.  This is
> not to dismiss the technological issues (or the other issues on Eileen's
> list) surrounding this topic, but to suggest that we have made more
> progress in identifying possible technological solutions than we have in
> outlining business models that result in a steady and adequate flow of
> resources to the institutions and organizations that we will be relying on
> to preserve the content for future generations.
>
> What I am really struggling with now is how to reconcile the need for a
> sustainable funding model for the archive with the recent, and
> understandable, push for open access publishing.  I'm sure we all see the
> value of open access for the communities we serve, just as we understand
> the critical need for preservation of that content.  The business models
> that provide for open access publishing may not be mutually exclusive with
> the business models that would help to support a long-term archive, but I
> am having trouble imagining a framework that provides for both.
>
> Keith Seitter
> Deputy Executive Director
> American Meteorological Society