No fault non-archiving.

[Richard Feinman <RFeinman@downstate.edu>]

I get several reprint requests for papers I published in 
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders which is not on PubMed. 
Does anybody know how the people who request them would find a 
self-archived version if I made it available?  I don't know how 
to find other self-archived papers except by contacting the 
author (which is frequently faster than going to their website 
and looking for an archive).  So I think I am only at fault if I 
know that self-archiving will help.

Does self-archiving actually help anybody?  How many researchers 
know how to find author-archived material?  This is a question, 
not a challenge. Why self-archive if nobody can find the MS?

  Also, the fact that I am not supposed to put up the final pdf is 
so infuriating that I doubt I would do it anyway -- somebody tell 
me with a straight face that the value added in turning a MS into 
a pdf is in any way comparable to the value of the content of the 
MS.

And then there is the idea that every time you self-archive you 
are making a statement that the purpose of the publisher is to 
restrit access to your work which you may be able to overcome.

RF

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Richard D. Feinman, Professor of Biochemistry