Re: US University OA Resolutions Omit Most Important Component

[heatherm@eln.bc.ca]

Jan Szczepanski and David Stern have raised some excellent points.

Jan's posting suggests that a compulsory approach to open access - in some
institutions - could be a barrier to open access; a reason for resistance.  
For these institutions, a voluntary approach, preferably led by faculty
rather than administration, strikes me as the best approach.  There are
many roads to the goal of open access; everyone should choose the path
that makes the most sense in their own situation.

David has brought up the need for a plan for universal storage and access,
which I would agree with.  My suggestion would be that developing and
filling institutional repositories would help to facilitate development of
such a plan (the IRs would be there, the articles needing preservation,
people would want to find them - this would drive the planning process).

There is some collaboration already in place, such as OAIster, but more is
definitely needed, particularly at the metadata / search mechanism level.

Here again, some flexibility is necessary.  An overall plan for a
phenomenon such as OA, taking place around the world, seems a tad
ambitious.  If we all agree on the basic goals - OA, coordinating
searching mechanisms, preservation - and leave it to the implementers to
figure out the best methods for their circumstances, this is probably as
good as it gets in terms of universal coordination on the globe of today.

cheers,

Heather Morrison