RE: Olbers' Paradox and OA

["D Anderson" <dh-anderson@corhealth.com>]

> Mark suggests that publishers won't need to maintain their backfiles on
> their servers -- these functions would be taken up by libraries instead.
> If so, the library community has a lot of work to do and additional
> costs to incur.

Distributed archiving creates its own set of problems. Some examples:

Authentication: Currently, publishers have the responsibility of ensuring
the integrity of archived content. Over time, it is possible that sets of
backfiles maintained by libraries and other organizations could differ.
For example, files maintained on servers with less-than-perfect security
could be altered, either by well-meaning users or by those with malicious
intent. Users accessing articles from distributed sources would have no
assurance that they are reading the original article. The solution might
be to designate one set as the "authenticated" set. Then citations
referring to this set could include a reference that the source is
authenticated.

Publishers spend substantial sums on data security. Each new threat
requires further upgrades of hardware, software, and security routines.
The operators of the authenticated servers would have to assure users that
they have sufficient budgets to secure content over time.

Corrections: Currently, journals run corrections to archived articles. In
our publications, we try to include corrections with the original article.
Operators of distributed servers would have a responsibility to ensure
that their files include all relevant corrections.

Dean H. Anderson
Publisher

COR Health
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http://www.corhealth.com