IUCr have done a great job in putting ALL Acta papers on-line. They have also declined your proposal that they "contribute" data to COD and recommend that people support existing databases instead. So how about helping raise money from the French equivalent of NSF for that purpose ?
There is not yet any French equivalent of NSF or NIH. Our prime minister proposed a few weeks ago 1 billion euros per year during 3 years for installing that NSF-equivalent system. There is also an European project. See the Royal-Society opinion about it : http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/files/statfiles/document-253.pdf
Concerning IUCr and COD, the story is not finished already. Read the letter below. My conclusion is that IUCr uses COD as a pressure tool on the monopolistic crystallography databases in order to obtain lower costs for developing countries.
Microsoft is pursued in Europe for "abuse of dominant position". Why not pursuing these crystallography databases monopoly ? Just see the ICDD PDF2 or PDF4 costs. Transforming ICSD and CSD into powder patterns and selling the product approximately 10 times the ICSD and CSD costs, is that not abusing ? Yes we are cows, in french the expression is "vaches à lait" for the designation of people pressured for money till the last drop.
Armel
========================================================== Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 16:05:54 -0500
At 2003 meeting help in Broome, Australia the Executive Committee of the IUCr discussed the Crystallographic Open Database.
The proponents of COD have requested permission to download systematically all the CIFs archived by the IUCr.
The Executive Committee appreciated the efforts of the advocates of the COD to make crystallographic data available free of charge, especially to developing countries. However, the Executive Committee was concerned to ensure the quality of data that was made available and did not wish accurately checked CIFs (or REF versions) to be intermixed with CIFs of unknown accuracy. Much effort had been devoted to ensure the accuracy of CIFs associated with published structures in the IUCr journals. The Executive Committee further noted the strong objections that had been received from the established databases. Accordingly, the Executive Committee did not approve the request to download CIFs held in the IUCr archive. The Executive Committee was keen to encourage the COD proponents to collaborate with the existing databases to discuss ways in which these databases could be made available to more developing countries at significantly reduced or little cost. The Executive Committee felt that this would be a much more useful and productive course of action and planned to approach the existing database distributors to promote this venture.
Because one of the guiding principals of the IUCr is to nurture crystallography in emerging nations and because the IUCr is a not-for-profit organization, it is difficult to oppose efforts to make the data in the IUCr Journals freely available to research scientists everywhere. The fact that the IUCr makes CIF files available to some organizations who distribute the data to the industrial community at a significant profit makes it especially difficult to justify withholding the data from organizations that would distribute the data free of charge to users in disadvantaged countries.
The Executive Committee is aware of some efforts on the part of database distributors to aid emerging nations (offering prizes, supporting research. etc.) We would appreciate it if explicit mechanisms to increase distribution of the Databases to third world nations would be developed. Perhaps the cost of the database to academic users in third world countries could be prorated relative to the charges to the UK, USA, and Japan on the basis of relative gross national product, average crystallographers salary or some such criteria.
If the disparity in distribution of the existing databases to which the IUCr freely provides its data cannot be resolved, the IUCr might need to reconsider its responsibility to emerging nations and its policy vis a vis the COD.
William L. Duax, Ph.D.
President, International Union of Crystallography
Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Inst
73 High Street
Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-856-9600
Fax: 716-852-6086
E-Mail: <http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/cryod/post?postID=1Ld6gf4W-GJmBn93O3WwAqufysQ0IAvvshjF_DadXRWTPzavTJzZ3FMR-fS5msGt2vlbKB1YqgNe3Ftfww>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: <<http://www.iucr.org>http://www.iucr.org>http://www.iucr.org
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