I would humbly suggest that you ask the scientific community in the developing world whether or not they want open access. I think the answer is entirely predictable.
But by 'open access' we mean OA Archives,which cost almost nothing to set up and fill. OA Publishing again imposes barriers to the developing world which can no way afford the publishing charges asked (though BMC waives these costs if you can prove you can't pay). Early days to get statistics from these regions as the news is only now being transmitted via workshops, web sites etc, but a look at Bioline International will show you there are over 30 publishers (all non-commercial) from the developing world already wanting to make their publications open access so that their research becomes part of the global library. See http://www.bioline.org.br for the main web site or http://bioline.utsc.utoronto.ca for the same material on the Bioline eprints archive. The scientific community in these regions of the world wants its research to be visible internationally and also wants access to the research so badly needed for health care, infectious diseases, agriculture, food science, environmental studies - the list is endless. OA Archiving can close both knowledge gaps.
From the persepective of disadvantaged scientists, your question seems to me
like asking a hungry child if it wants this loaf at $2 or the same loaf for free. The benefits from OA Archiving are incalculable, and not just to developing country science. Barbara Kirsop Electronic Publishing Trust for Development. http://www.epublishingtrust.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alma Swan" <a.s...@talk21.com> To: <american-scientist-open-access-fo...@listserver.sigmaxi.org> Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2004 5:20 PM Subject: Re: Who Needs Open Access, and Why?
At a meeting last week it was stated that there is no evidence that researchers WANT open access. I'm not sure anyone has actually asked them this, formally, so I am about to carry out an exercise to gather data on the topic. I would like to hear from librarians, open archive administrators and researchers themselves on this issue. In her recent posting to this forum, Paula Callan produced an example of the reactions of a researcher in her institution, including some specific statistics on the usage of his work. This is the sort of information I need - attributable evidence (with empirical data included if it exists) for or against the notion that researchers WANT open access. Does anyone else have similar evidence one way or the other, please? Please - no humble opinions, no unsubstantiated impressions, no speculative thoughts. I need data that will stand up to scrutiny. I am happy to receive responses offline, though this community would probably benefit from hearing them. Final word: I have plenty of statistics about researchers not being AWARE of open access. That is not the same as not WANTING it and I am not interested in uninformed researchers' opinions. What I am after are data that indicate whether, once aware of the issues, researchers do or do not want open access - as authors AND readers. Alma P Swan Key Perspectives Ltd Truro, UK as...@keyperspectives.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------ Added by Moderator: Prior Amsci Topic Thread: "Who Needs Open Access, and Why?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3613.html Internet Librarian International 2004. London. 11 October, 2004. http://www.internet-librarian.com/Monday.shtml#OpenAccess Discussion Dialup Video: http://www.streamingmedia.com/internetlibrarian/inetlib3_56.asx Discussion Broadband Video: http://www.streamingmedia.com/internetlibrarian/inetlib3_300.asx
