RE: AAAS and JSTOR issues

["Margaret Landesman" <margaret.landesman@utah.edu>]

On another note, our humanities and social science faculty love 
JSTOR and I have wondered if having Science in it hasn't widened 
the audience in a way that might be significant.

I don't know that they would be as likely to make use of a 
Science backfile that isn't part of JSTOR, which is a pity in 
these interdisciplinary times,

Margaret Landesman
University of Utah

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Kirk
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 6:57 PM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: AAAS and JSTOR issues

David,

I respectfully say that you've misunderstood my point; no doubt I
wasn't clear.

JStor's mandate is to serve non-profit customers only. I'm glad
for that--it keeps this wonderful product affordable for the
academic community.

AAAS, also a non-profit, serves a wider community that includes
the for-profit sector: its mission statement indicates global
engagement, as you noted. If AAAS used only JStor as an outlet
for its online Science archive, it would not be able to provide
it to the for-profit segment of its community. To fulfill its
mission, AAAS must find an alternative for **that part of its
audience**.

Nowhere did I say that AAAS ought to be making money, nor do I
assume that they plan to do so. My suggestion is that AAAS
continue to work with JStor to serve the non-profit community in
the manner to which we've happily become accustomed. Let AAAS use
another means to make the Science archive available to its
for-profit audience. Hopefully at cost only.

I applaud AAAS serving a wide community. I find it frustrating
when some other information providers demonstrate a profound lack
of interest in serving the academic community; fairness dictates
that I not then ask that AAAS leave out another market as long as
it serves mine. And, frankly, I am heartened that AAAS's mission
includes the widest audience because I want its values of science
for societal good and integrity in science to infiltrate the
corporate sector (much more to my taste than science in service
to robber barons) as well as being a strong component of science
education.

I'd also like the Science archive to remain affordable and
accessible through JStor for our community.

Thanks for your kind patience,


Elizabeth E. Kirk
Associate Librarian for Information Resources
Dartmouth College Library
Hanover, NH 03755-3525
Elizabeth.E.Kirk@dartmouth.edu


On Sep 11, 2007, at 6:38 PM, David Carlson wrote:

> As my letter to AAAS tried to make clear, the key issue in this
> decision ought to be mission. Yes, AAAS is a nonprofit with a
> broad mission. I also agree that AAAS needs to be successful
> operationally in its business affairs, but its mission as a
> non-profit is not to make money. Its mission is to advance
> science and serve society, as its web site reminds us on every
> darn page.
>
> I am sure that on occasion in the history of any organization,
> decisions are necessary that may be viewed, at some levels, in
> opposition to mission. But any decision that is contradictory
> to mission (as I believe the JSTOR withdrawal decision clearly
> represents) ought to be rare (first and foremost), carefully
> considered and justified relative to mission. In my judgment,
> the JSTOR withdrawal rationale posted on the AAAS web site is
> stunningly weak in its rationale and justification with no
> recognition that it represents a departure from mission.
>
> -- David