Level of discussion.

[David Goodman <dgoodman@princeton.edu>]

One of the contributors to our discussion of ejournals has felt it
necessary to post the following:

> >At this point if you are not willing to conceed any of our arguments we
> >might as well just agree to disagree. We'll see where we both are a few
> >evolutionary steps down the road.
   
I too have noticed that some of the recent messages have represented what
I suppose can be seen as an end-of-summer impatience. I apologize if
anything I have written represents a lesser amount of cooperation than I
hope to show.

We are all of us in the course of an ongoing revolutionary change; some of
us may wish it slower, some faster; some may think of any particular
project that it offers the solution, or that it is worse than useless. But
we are none of us necessarily opponents, and we can not be sure what our
roles will eventually be. I would suggest that anyone who is absolutely
certain of how our professional world will be in even 5 years may possibly
not be seeing all the factors.

We should all be agreed that we badly need additional data; there will I
think be quite enough difficulties in interpreting the data without
discouraging those who are providing it. I suggest that the appropriate
course when presented with information that does not seem to be consistent
with one's prior notions is to share and analyze the data.  If, for
example, the data I have been collecting does not necessarily show what I
thought it would show (as is in fact the case), this will lead me to
better see the limitations of my hypotheses and better understand the
reality I am trying to measure, which may (or may not) lead to the
reinforcement of my conclusions. We would surely not want to imitate those
who refuse to engage in research that might lead to conclusions they do
not want to accept.
 
---
David Goodman 
Biology Librarian, 
and Co-Chair, Electronic Journals Task Force
Princeton University Library 
dgoodman@princeton.edu         http://www.princeton.edu/~biolib/
phone: 609-258-3235            fax: 609-258-2627