RE: Learned societies and open access

["Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu>]

> Regarding the comments about "real-world economic concerns" of societies,
> it may be useful to re-read the interview with Elizabeth Marincola, the
> Executive Director of the American Society for Cell Biology.
> <http://www.biomedcentral.com/openaccess/archive/?page=features&issue=6>

... in which she argues that her society makes enough money from
conferences and subscription revenues that it can afford to make its
publications free to the public two months following publication, to which
I (and Dr. Varmus, I'm sure) say "Good for her!"  I think all societies
that can afford to do what hers is doing should join her.  But I think
there may be many that cannot.  Breezily telling those to "find another
source of revenue" strikes me as a somehow insufficient response to their
concerns.

It's also worth pointing out that ACSB's model is not exactly Open Access.
They still charge for access to their current publications.

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Rick Anderson
Director of Resource Acquisition
University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
(775) 784-6500 x273
rickand@unr.edu