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Edit of PDF document
by Mailing List Manager 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 11:09:36 +0530 From: Satya Ranjan Sahu <srsahu(a)darya.nio.org> Dear members, Editing in a PDF document, which is captured by "Page Capture", increases the file size tremendously of the original. Is there any solution to keep the size in control? We have scanned few articles from the print documents. After converting the image as editable PDF using "Abode Page Capture" the size found to be reasonable. But when the PDF document edited using the "touch text tool" or "capture suspect" of Adobe Acrobat, the size increases. Please let me know the solution to keep the file size reasonable. Thanking you With regards Satya "Make everyday memorable" -------------------------------------------------------- Satya Ranjan Sahu NIO Library (NICMAS) National Institute of Oceanography Dona Paula, Goa - 403 004 Phone: 91- (0)832 - 2450 370 (Direct) 2450 450(Extn. 370) ---------------------------------------------------------

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IFLA Award, Closing date 30 Nov.
by Dinesh K. Gupta 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

Dear Colleagues, Any professional worldover who has initiated/ done marketing project/ compaign in his/her library and wants to attend 2004 IFLA Conference in Buenos Aires ( Argentina) with a cash award of US$1000 , may apply for the IFLA-3M International Marketing Award. The Closing date (30th Nov.) is approaching very fast. Pl. Find application details at: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s34/award/3m-appform-e.doc Regards, Dinesh K. Gupta (Member, Standing Committee, Management & Marketing Section, IFLA)

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Teledensity
by Mailing List Manager 12 Nov '03

12 Nov '03

Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 09:43:08 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun(a)mssrf.res.in> Here is a comparison of teledensity in selected Asian countries. "The teledensity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the region. According to latest statistics (ITU), Bangladesh has 0.79 phones for per 100 people whereas it is 3.94 in India, 4.4 in Sri Lanka, 2.9 in Pakistan, 1.34 in Nepal, 24.98 in China, 49.9 in Malaysia and 6.17 in Indonesia. More than 70 per cent of the population of Bangladesh do not have telephone access," says Nur-ul Alam, Melbourne, Australia. Clearly China and Malaysia are way ahead of India. As India cannot afford telephones for all individuals/familieswe for a long time to come, we should encourage community owned telecentres, such as the ones established by M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in the villages of Pondicherry of Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu. We should also also encourage voice over IP and community radio. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam]

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An electronic journal
by Mailing List Manager 12 Nov '03

12 Nov '03

Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 07:42:58 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun(a)mssrf.res.in> Here is a useful electronic journal: http://informationr.net/ir/ Arun

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Fwd: Re: On the Need to Take Both Roads to Open Access
by Subbiah Arunachalam 12 Nov '03

12 Nov '03

Here is aletter from Stevan Harnad to Katie Mantell of SciDevNet, which should be of interest to information professionals trying to understand and promote open access to scientific literature. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] Dear Katie Mantell: > > As you requested, I have transmitted widely your > announcement about > SciDevNet's coverage of open access: > http://www.scidev.net/ms/open_access/ > > As you also ask for my comments, Here they are: > > (1) The SciDevNet's coverage is very helpful and > welcome, but at the > moment it is *extremely* lop-sided, covering only > one of the two roads > to open access -- open-access journal publication -- > but not the other > road: open-access self-archiving of toll-access > journal publications: > http://www.nature.com/nature/debates/e-access/Articles/harnad.html > > (2) You do cite the Budapest Open Access Initiative > (BOAI) but you do > not note that the BOAI consists of *two* open-access > strategies, of > which the second (BOAI-2) is open-access journal > publication but the > first (BOAI-1) is open-access self-archiving: > http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml > > (3) This is an important omission, because in actual > numbers, open-access > self-archiving is generating far more open access > articles per year than > open-access journal-publishing, and open-access via > this road is also > able to grow much sooner and faster. In fact, in all > likelihood, the > "green" road of open-access self-archiving is itself > also the surest > way to reach the "golden" road of open-access > journal-publishing! > > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving_files/Slide0026.gif > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving_files/Slide0021.gif > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving_files/Slide0024.gif > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving_files/Slide0028.gif > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving_files/Slide0022.gif > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving_files/Slide0030.gif > > Complete series: > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving.htm > or > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving.ppt > > (4) This is why it is so important not to represent > "open-access" as > merely being synonymous with > "open-access-publishing"! > > (5) In your key reports and documents, you have > mostly BOAI-2 reports and > documents. May I suggest adding the following BOAI-1 > reports and > documents: > > (i) The BOAI-1 (self-archiving) FAQ: > http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/ > > (ii) The original self-archiving proposal > (Okerson & ODonnell 1995) > http://www.arl.org/scomm/subversive/toc.html > > (iii) The University self-archiving policy > model: > > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/archpolnew.html > > (iv) The Research-Funder open-access policy > model: > http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue35/harnad/ > > (v) The Berlin Open Access Declaration: > > http://www.zim.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin/berlindeclaration.html > > (vi) SPARC Institutional Repository Checklist & > Resource Guide > http://www.arl.org/sparc/IR/IR_Guide.html > > (6) Among "Open Access Initiatives" could I suggest > adding > > (i) The SHERPA Project > http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/ > > (ii) The DARE Project > > http://www.surf.nl/en/themas/print/index2.php?oid=7 > > (iii) The Australian initiative > > http://alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2002/10/eprints.html > > (iv) French initiatives: > http://www.tours.inra.fr/tours/doc/comsci.htm > > (v) The cross-institutional archive, OAIster > http://oaister.umdl.umich.edu/o/oaister/ > > (7) To "Open Access Literature" I suggest adding: > > Harnad, S. (2001) The self-archiving initiative > > http://www.nature.com/nature/debates/e-access/Articles/harnad.html > > Pinfield et al (2002) "Setting up an > institutional e-print archive" > > http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/eprint-archives/intro.html > > And to links I would add: > > Core metalist of open access eprint archives > > http://opcit.eprints.org/archive-core-metalist.html > > as well as the following resources: > > Very large harvested cache of open-access > arcticles in Computer > Science: http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/cs > > GNU Open-Source Self-Archiving Software: > http://www.eprints.org/ > > Citation-Impact-Measuring Search Engine for > Open-Access Achives: > http://citebase.eprints.org/cgi-bin/search > > Citation-Seeking Engine (looks for open-access > full-texts) > http://paracite.eprints.org/ > > American Scientist Forum (discussion of open > access since 1998) > > http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/september98-forum.html > > Open Archives Initiative > http://www.openarchives.org/ > > Powerpoints for promoting open access: > > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/berlin.ppt > > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/berlin.htm > > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/openaccess.ppt > > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/openaccess.htm > > These recommendations are all intended so as to make > the SciDevNet > site's contribution to open-access complete, rather > than being, as it is > now, merely a review of the open-access > journal-publishing portion of > the overall movements and initiatives toward open > access. > > Sincerely, > > Stevan Harnad > > On Wed, 5 Nov 2003, Katie Mantell wrote: > > > Dear Stevan Harnad > > > > Many thanks for your email in response to the > editorial on communicating > > science in an electronic era. > > > > We have posted it on our letters to the editor > page > > (http://www.scidev.net/EditorLetters/) and have > also taken the opportunity > > to post it on a special section of the website > that we are launching today > > on "Open Access and Scientific Publishing" under > 'Feedback and Debate'. > > > > In this section > (http://www.scidev.net/open_access) we have drawn > together > > resources on access to scientific information in > the developing world. > > > > It includes: > > Â· Up-to-date news, features and opinion articles > on the issues > > surrounding open access and scientific publishing > > Â· Descriptions of (and links to) current open > access initiatives > > Â· Access to free scientific literature > > Â· Links to key reports > > Â· Comprehensive events section with the latest > meeting proceedings and > > future events. > > Â· An opportunity for you to comment and give > your views > > > > We hope that this guide will be a useful and > important resource for all > > those interested in open access to scientific > information, and will provoke > > further critical thinking and discussion on the > key issues. > > > > I would therefore be grateful if you could pass > this message on to > > colleagues and friends who might be interested > (www.scidev.net/open_access) > > Also, do let me know if you have any comments on > the section. > > > > Best regards > > > > Katie Mantell > > > > ============================================ > > Katie Mantell > > News Editor > > > > SciDev.Net > > 11 Rathbone Place > > London > > W1T 1HR > > United Kingdom > > > > Tel: +44 (0)20 7291 3695 > > Fax: +44 (0)20 7291 3697 > > ============================================ > > SciDev.Net - found at www.scidev.net - is a > free-access website providing > > news, views and information on science, technology > and the developing world. > > > NOTE: Complete archive of the ongoing discussion of > providing open > access to the peer-reviewed research literature > online is available at > the American Scientist September Forum (98 & 99 & 00 > & 01 & 02 & 03): > > http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/september98-forum.html > > http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/index.html > Posted discussion to: > september98-forum(a)amsci-forum.amsci.org > > Dual Open-Access Strategy: > BOAI-2: Publish your article in a suitable > open-access journal > whenever one exists. > BOAI-1: Otherwise, publish your article in a > suitable toll-access > journal and also self-archive it. > http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/berlin.htm ________________________________________________________________________ Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! Messenger http://mail.messenger.yahoo.co.uk

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Re: LIS-Forum Digest, Vol 8, Issue 8
by g balasubramanian 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Hello Sir Add my name as member.

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DRTC Seminar on XFML
by Mailing List Manager 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Date: 11 Nov 2003 10:16:10 -0000 From: aprajita suman <aprajita_drtc(a)rediffmail.com> Indian Statistical Institute Documentation Research and Training Center 8th Mile, Mysore Road,Bangalore 560 059 DRTC Seminar on EXTENSIBLE FACETED MARKUP LANGUAGE by Aparajita Suman ADIS Student, DRTC The unplanned dumping of information on WWW is the reason of the chaotic web of today. The way out of this WEB (in literal sense) seems to be only through planned organization, using faceted techniques, of the burgeoning sources of information. The role of XFML i.e. extensible faceted markup language gets defined in this context. The markup language allows one to relate the topics of concern and to provide a meaningful way of accessing information. This seminar on XFML will try to explore its nuances and suitability for defining a web of well-placed, closely-knit information threads. Venue : DRTC Classroom Date : 14th November^ 2003 Time : 2 P.M. All are cordially invited Co-ordinator Dr. ARD Prasad DRTC Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore

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IndLibra: Draft Aims & Objectives--Review for review & comments/suggestions
by prafulla＠nisc.co.in 10 Nov '03

10 Nov '03

<color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>Dear Professional Colleagues: The draft proposal for the starting of a discussion group "IndLibra" to bring all library professionals in India to a common meeting point for effective communication with all stakeholders in LI services is given below. Kindly review it and let us have your valuable comments on this proposal. If you feel something is missing, please feel free to respond. To view the IndLibrary Group, please visit: http://indlibra.myforum.net/ We are awaiting Prof Laxman Rao's response to our request to lead the Ind Libra Group. We hope that he would spare some time to guide the IndLibra project. ___________________________________________<bigger><bigger><bigger> IndLibra<smaller><smaller><smaller> Knowledge and Information are the fountainheads of all-round human development. IndLibras mission is to facilitate free flow of knowledge and information in all directions, wherever it is required and without any discrimination, for the purpose of reducing human suffering and enhancing human capacities. <bigger><bigger>Aim<smaller><smaller> To provide Indian LIS professionals a common communication interface for the purpose of revolutionizing LI services and LIS education throughout India at all levels. IndLibra seeks to bring all Indian LIS professionals serving in various types of libraries such as public, academic and special on a single platform for effective communication among themselves and with all the stakeholders. This network of LIS professionals would act as the change agent to bring about a metamorphosis in Indian LI services. It would also act as a single voice of Indian library profession. <bigger><bigger>Who are the stakeholders?<smaller><smaller> IndLibra is meant to serve the needs of all stakeholders involved in the provision of LI services such as Library users and non-users Librarians LIS teachers LIS students Library suppliers (publishers, distributors, booksellers, manufacturers of equipment, service providers, etc.) Subject experts <bigger><bigger>Objectives<smaller><smaller> 1. To provide a nation-wide, Internet-based Reference/Community Information Services for the general public by offering a SINGLE WINDOW INFORMATION ACCESS POINT. 2. To facilitate resource sharing among various types of libraries all over India through fast and easy provision of information about availability of documents in libraries. 3. To compile a single, comprehensive Database of Indian LIS Professionals/Library & Information Centres covering all types of libraries. 4. To serve as the real-life laboratory for Reference Service courses in Indian LIS schools. 5. To formulate a national research agenda for LIS taking into consideration the needs of all types of libraries. 6. To provide a market place for library suppliers such as publishers, booksellers, equipment manufacturers, service providers, etc., for announcing their new books/journals/equipment/products/services. 7. To encourage library donations from the general public for collection development, construction of library buildings, purchase of ICT equipment, etc. 8. To support establishment of Friends of the Library Groups throughout India. 9. To form a nation-wide panel of subject experts willing to provide, free of cost, subject-related information to the common persons. 10. To build up a strong pressure group comprising of eminent persons from diverse fields to lobby for strengthening of LI services. 11. To enhance the professional image of librarians through active public relations campaigns and provision of proactive and imaginative information services aimed at the common persons. 12. To utilise the entire knowledge base of Indian LIS professionals for meeting the needs of the general public. <bigger><bigger>Who can join?<smaller><smaller> IndLibra is open to all. Any person interested in LI services is free to participate, use and contribute to this group. In the first phase, IndLibra would strive to enlist participation of university librarians and reference personnel working in all Indian universities, IITs, IIMs, librarians of all State Central Libraries and District Central Libraries throughout India, librarians of all government/special libraries, LIS teachers, LIS students, Library Suppliers (Publishers, Distributors, Booksellers, Equipment Manufacturers, Service Providers, etc.), Subject Experts and Library Users (both actual and potential). <bigger><bigger>What IndLibra can do for you?<smaller><smaller> <bold><bigger>1) For the general public</bold><smaller> Searching for a book, journal, article, CD-ROM, AV cassette, film, microform, etc., in an Indian library? Post your request at IndLibra-- your single window service for locating materials in Indian libraries. Through a single message you can check all major libraries throughout India whether a particular document is available or not. The libraries which have this document in their collection would respond to your request. Then, you can get it on inter-library loan by contacting your local librarian or request for a copy of it. Are you looking for information required for your day-to-day living relating to education, health, employment, agriculture, etc.? Send your questions to IndLibra and get replies from the librarians/subject experts all over India. India Libra is your reliable source for all types of community information. Want to buy books, journals, etc.? Librarians can help you in locating publishers, booksellers, etc. Simply post a message at IndLibra. Want to start a Friends of the Library Group in your locality? Just post your message at IndLibra. We will provide detailed help on how to start and successfully manage such a Group for improving library and information services in your neighbourhood. Would you like to serve the society by supporting libraries? Donate liberally to libraries! Your donations could be in the form of valuable books, journals, etc. of your personal collection or cash to support construction of library buildings, purchase of library furniture/equipment, computers, etc. Just send a message to IndLibra indicating what you wish to donate. You would receive responses from the Indian libraries which are willing to accept and make productive use of your donation. You will have a wide choice to select the libraries you wish to support. Your books reach the right library where they are likely to be most used. Searching for best books or recommended books on a particular subject/topic? Would you like to explore books which change lives? Librarians/subject experts at IndLibra would be glad to help you. Just send your query. <bold><bigger>2) For Librarians</bold><smaller> Facilitates resource sharing among Indian libraries. You would be able to know within 24 hours where a particular document is available in an Indian library. IndLibra helps you to locate easily potential library suppliers (of documents/equipment/services, etc.). Just post your library requirements at IndLibra and receive replies from all the suppliers. No more throwing arrows in the dark trying to identify who can supply a particular document or which bookseller has a particular foreign book in his stock. By communicating library requirements to all suppliers through a single posting at IndLibra you would be ensuring equality of opportunity to all of them and this helps your library to clinch the best deals. Enhance your professional image through active participation in provision of LI services at the national level. Participation in IndLibra could be one of your extension service activities. Improving your librarys visibility at the national level is likely to encourage donations from the public for strengthening your collections, services, equipment, etc. <bold><bigger>3) For LIS teachers & students</bold><smaller> Would you like to expose your students to real life examples of reference service? Let them handle live reference queries from all over India at IndLibra. Thinking of strengthening your departmental library/computer laboratory? Place your requirements at IndLibra to encourage donations. Are you a student searching for clarity on a particular theory/concept/topic in LIS? Drop your query at IndLibra to receive replies from eminent LIS teachers. Searching for books in LIS? Cant afford to buy books required for your study/research? Send your request to IndLibra and receive help. <bigger>4) For Library Suppliers (Publishers, Distributors, Booksellers, Manufacturers of equipment, Service providers, etc.)<smaller> Announce your latest books/journals/products/services through IndLibra. Reach the entire Indian librarian community through a single posting at IndLibra and expand your customer base all over India. This is a FREE SERVICE meant for fast dissemination of information relating to all library supplies. IndLibra serves as a market place for all your needs. <bold><bigger>5) For Subject Experts</bold><smaller> Would you like to serve the general public by answering their queries relating to specialized subject areas. Join the IndLibras panel of subject experts and disseminate your knowledge and information for the benefit of Indian masses. IndLibra would evolve as a single-window service for dissemination of knowledge and information in all areas of human endeavour. It would strive to answer every query within 24 hours of its posting. In the initial stages, as over 1000+ library and information professionals, LIS teachers, subject experts, etc., would be available round the clock to serve the users, we hope the response time would be must faster. We welcome one and all to join the IndLibra group to avail and contribute to its services. END ___________________________________________________ Thank you Sincerely T.V. Prafulla Chandra Senior Editor --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NISC Export Services Pvt. Ltd. (an affiliate of NISC International, Inc. USA) S-1 Ballad Estates, St.Ann's School Road, Tarnaka, Hyderabad 500 017 Andhra Pradesh, India - Tel:+91 40 27001517 Tel/Fax:+91 40 27002538 WWW.NISC.COM A company in service to NISC worldwide. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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The Hindu : Opening access to science
by Mailing List Manager 10 Nov '03

10 Nov '03

Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 14:55:13 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun(a)mssrf.res.in> An editorial by Gopalraj (gopalraj(a)vsnl.com) on Open Access, published in 'The Hindu' is available online at: http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/08/stories/2003110801121000.htm ---------- Dear Stevan: I shall strongly recommend publication of your article (in response to the Hindu editorial by Gopalraj) in Current Science. I am marking a copy of this mail to Prof. Balaram, Editor, Current Science. I also recommend to Current Science to publish a brief article by you (and Peter Suber if he agrees) once in two months, that is one in four issues. By the time you arrive here in September 2004, many avid readers of Current Science would know your arguments. Regards. Arun ------- Stevan Harnad's Response to the above editorial by GopalRaj: > > The Gold and Green Roads to Open Access > > The editorial is of course very timely and useful, because it describes open > access and the open-access journals. But it is unfortunately far from > being as useful as it could be, for it is in fact merely a direct echo > of the proportion of press attention that open-access journal-publishing > (the "golden road to open access") has been getting in the Western > Press. That attention too would be well and good if it were proportionate, > with the emphasis being on *open access* itself, rather than only > on the golden road to it! For if open access is identified with > open-access journal-publishing alone, or even primarily, we overlook the > complementary "green road to open access" (open-access self-archiving > of toll-access articles) that is in a position to provide (and > is already providing) far more open access, far sooner, and with no > attendant certainty. > > It is satisfying to focus on the triumphs of the golden road; the > editorial names all the causes and the desiderata; it echoes the widespread > sense of momentum and of nearing the goal. But in reality it is a > blueprint for yet another decade of needless waiting for open access! > > The editorial mentions the relevant figures: 20,000 journals (probably > more like 24,000 today, according to Bowker's), 1 million articles > every year (probably 2.5 million) and about 550 "gold" journals > (publishing about 60,000 open-access articles yearly). > http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/analysis/ > http://www.doaj.org/ > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/2983.html of toll-access articles) that is in a position to provide (and > is already providing) far more open access, far sooner, and with no > attendant certainty. > It is satisfying to focus on the triumphs of the golden road; the > editorial names all the causes and the desiderata; it echoes the widespread > sense of momentum and of nearing the goal. But in reality it is a > blueprint for yet another decade of needless waiting for open access! > > The editorial mentions the relevant figures: 20,000 journals (probably > more like 24,000 today, according to Bowker's), 1 million articles > every year (probably 2.5 million) and about 550 "gold" journals > (publishing about 60,000 open-access articles yearly). > http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/analysis/ > http://www.doaj.org/ > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/2983.html > > But the editorial does not put 2+2 together! 550/24,000 and > 60,000/2,500,000 are *minuscule* ratios, and their rate and likelihood of > growth are equally minuscule. And there is still uncertainty about the > viability of the golden journal cost-recovery model at this time. It is satisfying to focus on the triumphs of the golden road; the > editorial names all the causes and the desiderata; it echoes the widespread > sense of momentum and of nearing the goal. But in reality it is a > blueprint for yet another decade of needless waiting for open access! > > The editorial mentions the relevant figures: 20,000 journals (probably > more like 24,000 today, according to Bowker's), 1 million articles > every year (probably 2.5 million) and about 550 "gold" journals > (publishing about 60,000 open-access articles yearly). > http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/analysis/ > http://www.doaj.org/ > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/2983.html > > But the editorial does not put 2+2 together! 550/24,000 and > 60,000/2,500,000 are *minuscule* ratios, and their rate and likelihood of > growth are equally minuscule. And there is still uncertainty about the > viability of the golden journal cost-recovery model at this time. K> It is satisfying to focus on the triumphs of the golden road; the > editorial names all the causes and the desiderata; it echoes the widespread > sense of momentum and of nearing the goal. But in reality it is a > blueprint for yet another decade of needless waiting for open access! > > The editorial mentions the relevant figures: 20,000 journals (probably > more like 24,000 today, according to Bowker's), 1 million articles > every year (probably 2.5 million) and about 550 "gold" journals > (publishing about 60,000 open-access articles yearly). > http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/analysis/ > http://www.doaj.org/ > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/2983.html It is satisfying to focus on the triumphs of the golden road; the > editorial names all the causes and the desiderata; it echoes the widespread > sense of momentum and of nearing the goal. But in reality it is a > blueprint for yet another decade of needless waiting for open access! > > The editorial mentions the relevant figures: 20,000 journals (probably > more like 24,000 today, according to Bowker's), 1 million articles > every year (probably 2.5 million) and about 550 "gold" journals > (publishing about 60,000 open-access articles yearly). > http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/analysis/ > http://www.doaj.org/ > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/2983.html > > But the editorial does not put 2+2 together! 550/24,000 and > 60,000/2,500,000 are *minuscule* ratios, and their rate and likelihood of > growth are equally minuscule. And there is still uncertainty about the > viability of the golden journal cost-recovery model at this time. So whereas pointing out the growing awareness among both researchers > and the general public, at last, of the value and desirability and > the possibility of open access, is a good thing, pinning the hopes > of attaining open access on the golden road alone, or even primarily, > represents a great opportunity lost. > > At the very end of the editorial, almost as an afterthought, there is > indeed a brief mention of the *other* road, the "green" road. > > "In addition, even when papers are published in conventional journals, > the pre-print (and sometimes the post-print) versions can often be > placed in open electronic archives to ensure free access. Physicists > have been doing this for years and scientists from other disciplines, > especially biology and medicine, need to follow suit." > > But this brief passing mention fails to point out that open-access But this brief passing mention fails to point out that open-access > self-archiving *is* indeed the other road to open access, and the road > that *can* bring us (and *is* already bringing us) to open access far > faster -- not having to face the obstacle of (1) creating 23,450 new > journals, (2) finding a way to fund them, and (3) then persuading the > authors of the 2,440,000 yearly articles to submit their work to those > journals instead of their established competitors, but facing instead > only the one obstacle of (1) persuading the authors of the 2,440,000 > yearly articles to self-archive! > > Nor is it clear enough from this ever-so-brief afterthought, and > the relative proportion of space and attention accorded to it in > the editorial, that the green road has also already been shown to > be navigable, that it already transports at least three times as many > articles to open access yearly, and that the "traffic" is growing faster > on the green road than the golden road, mainly because it already has > "official" clearance for at least 55% of the yearly 2,500,000 articles > (and can in reality accommodate 100% of them), whereas the golden road can accommodate less than 5% of the traffic today. > > I would not cavil at this oversight if it were not for the fact that > the disproportionate emphasis in this editorial, and so much else that > is being written about open access today, misses the opportunity to > marshal the mounting enthusiasm for open access to help persuade the > authors of those remaining 2,260,000 articles to make them open-access > today, by taking the one simple step, already within their reach, of > self-archiving them! For the result would not be another decade of golden > dreams but a green reality of 100% open access, overnight. > > Do we really want to continue sitting and waiting waiting passively for > the golden road to be enlarged for us, journal by journal, or do we want > to fast-forward to open access via the green road in the meanwhile? > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Tp/resolution.htm#4.1 > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Tp/resolution.htm#4.2 Stevan Harnad > Chaire de Recherche du Canada > Centre de Neuroscience de la Cognition (CNC) > Universite du Quebec a Montreal > Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3P8 > tel: 1-514-987-3000 2461# > fax: 1-514-987-8952 > harnad(a)uqam.ca > http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/

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Info@UK
by Mailing List Manager 10 Nov '03

10 Nov '03

This month's Info@UK is now available from the address below. http://www.britishcouncil.org/info@UK/bulletin.htm#current Info@UK - is your guide to major UK Information Society developments and news. The bulletin is compiled by the Information Management Research Institute, University of Northumbria on behalf of the British Council and is designed primarily to meet the information needs of British Council staff. However we recognise that it will be of interest to a wider audience and are happy to share Info@UK with you. For more news and past copies of Info@UK are available at the Info@UK web site at: http://www.britishcouncil.org/Info@UK/index.htm ******* Arun

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