Re: Interview with Rector of University of Liege

[Sandy Thatcher <sandy.thatcher@alumni.princeton.edu>]

Yes, I should have been more precise in my use of language as "OA 
journal publishing" might easily be misconstrued as meaning "gold 
OA publishing." I did mean to say exactly what Stevan more 
precisely has stated.

I'm not sure, however, why gold OA publishing for books must be 
considered "premature," however, especially in the form in which 
Athabasca and some other presses are pursuing it, viz., without 
requiring any payments from authors.  I say, if they can make it 
work now and have the money to fund it (whether from print POD 
sales or otherwise, without directly charging author fees), why 
not?

Sandy Thatcher


>On 2011-06-09, at 7:21 PM, Sandy Thatcher wrote:
>
>>  Rentier certainly deserves to be included among the pioneers of
>>  OA journal publishing, [http://bit.ly/mM0TRg]
>
>Bernard Rentier is not particularly one of the pioneers of (gold)
>OA publishing! He is a pioneer of (green) OA self-archiving:
>
>"Green OA is a way of responding immediately to the needs of the
>university, and of providing immediate visibility to an
>institution's researchers. If green OA grows steadily, as it
>currently is doing, it will lead the way to gold OA. So for me
>green OA is a path to OA..."
>
>>  and the mandate he has put in place likely
>>  is the most effective kind that can be used and should be
>>  emulated everywhere.
>
>Hear! Hear!
>
>>  He has little to say about OA for books,
>>  however, except noting that faculty are welcome to submit them
>>  also but are not required to do so. More needs to be done by
>>  leaders at his level to encourage the development of OA for books
>>  lest book content be artificially segregated from journal
>>  content.
>
>Don't worry. Like gold OA and copyright reform, a lot more book
>OA will follow, after green OA becomes universal.
>
>But book OA cannot (and should not) be mandated. (It can and
>should only be encouraged; I don't think you disagree.)
>
>In contrast, 100% Green OA for all 2.5 million articles published
>in all 25,000 peer-reviewed journals is within immediate reach.
>All worldwide scholarly/scientific community need do is grasp it,
>by doing what you suggest above: all universities as well as all
>research funders should mandate it, using the Liege ID/OA mandate
>as their model.
>
>(This is why Bernard Rentier and Alma Swan founded Enabling Open
>Scholarship: to help universities worldwide develop an effective
>OA policy: http://www.openscholarship.org )
>
>>  One such leader is the president of Athabasca University
>>  in Canada, who launched the university press there as a fully OA
>>  operation. Perhaps Richard will interview him at some point in
>>  the future.
>
>Good idea. But gold OA is still premature (whether for journals
>or books).
>
>What's urgently needed and fully within our reach is green OA.
>Once we have grasped that, all the other good things will follow.
>
>Amen,
>
>Your weary archivangelist