RE: Critique of STM Critique of NIH Proposal

["David Goodman" <David.Goodman@liu.edu>]

As there is no university library in the United States or elsewhere that
can afford to subscribe to all significant science journals, and very few
if any who can subscribe to even all the journals covered by the NIH
proposal, we are all sometimes in this situation of not having sufficient
funds.

However, the distinction referred to will indeed survive even for standard
material.. Under the proposal, those at institutions that can afford to
subscribe to a particular journal will get a more finished version of the
article. Most libraries and indexes will be so arranged that if the
library does subscribe, the user will be directed to the publishers'
version; the facilities for doing so already exist and are used for this
purpose routinely. The only difference is that if an institution does not
subscribe, the user will be directed to the open access version. This does
not require additional NIH funds, but merely the efforts of those
institutions with sufficient money to take the appropriate advantage of
their (relative) wealth.  Thus the class distinction in American higher
education will still continue.

Dr. David Goodman
Associate Professor
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Long Island University
dgoodman@liu.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu on behalf of Dr. James J. O'Donnell
Sent: Sun 11/21/2004 4:29 PM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Critique of STM Critique of NIH Proposal (fwd)
 
The item cited below makes this point repeatedly:

	"To repeat, what is being proposed is not an alternative business
	model but that access to journal articles reporting the results of
	NIH-funded research should be supplemented with free public online
	access for all those would-be users who cannot afford paid access."

Do I interpret this correctly as meaning that *only* those who cannot
afford paid access should be given free access?  On the model of proposals
to reform U.S. health care?  That's very different from what I've been
understanding as Open Access, but interesting to explore.  There seems to
be progress in that direction:

	http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/develop.shtml

Jim O'Donnell
Georgetown U.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:13:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Stevan Harnad <harnad@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Reply-To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Critique of STM Critique of NIH Proposal

Full text of critique is at:

http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/nih.rtf