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Re: No fault non-archiving.



In addition to the reasons mentioned in other posts, having self-archived versions of papers can be very helpful when toll-access content that should be available is not. At the library where I work, there have been a number of instances of this recently. This is what usually happens: A user finds that an article from a journal is not found on the journal's homepage (e.g. April and June 2006 are there but May is nowhere to be found), even though the library pays for this material. When we talk with the publisher, they are apologetic and promise to get the content up as soon as possible; this normally takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to do, something that is not that helpful for the person who wants the missing item. A search using most search engines (as Stevan pointed out in his reply) often pulls up a self-archived copy of the article and the user is happy.

Andrew Waller
Serials Librarian
Collections Services
University of Calgary Library
waller@ucalgary.ca


Richard Feinman wrote:

I get several reprint requests for papers I published in
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders which is not on PubMed.
Does anybody know how the people who request them would find a
self-archived version if I made it available?  I don't know how
to find other self-archived papers except by contacting the
author (which is frequently faster than going to their website
and looking for an archive).  So I think I am only at fault if I
know that self-archiving will help.

Does self-archiving actually help anybody?  How many researchers
know how to find author-archived material?  This is a question,
not a challenge. Why self-archive if nobody can find the MS?

 Also, the fact that I am not supposed to put up the final pdf is
so infuriating that I doubt I would do it anyway -- somebody tell
me with a straight face that the value added in turning a MS into
a pdf is in any way comparable to the value of the content of the
MS.

And then there is the idea that every time you self-archive you
are making a statement that the purpose of the publisher is to
restrit access to your work which you may be able to overcome.

RF

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Richard D. Feinman, Professor of Biochemistry