T. Scott Plutchak anticipates his debate with Rick Anderson at the upcoming Charleston Conference (Charleston, November 7-10, 2007) on the consequences of OA for libraries. Excerpt:
We titled the session, "Open Access: Good for Society, Bad for Libraries?" and sent in this abstract:
Resolved: As open access becomes more widespread, and more scholarly material becomes available either in open access journals or institutional repositories, libraries will become more marginalized in higher education institutions as funds formerly devoted to collections are diverted to other institutional priorities.
It's intended to be hyperbolic, of course, and in reality I don't think there's a tremendous difference in Rick's and my actual views on the issues....
As the inveterate librarian optimist, I think that expanding OA presents some great opportunities for librarians, but there are plenty of potential hazards along the way. It's been a disappointment that there's been so little substantive discussion (at least that I've seen) about the possible consequences for libraries....
And it just occurred to me that I don't think that Rick and I have sorted out who is taking the pro and who is taking the con position in our debate. I'd better give him a call....
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/11/2007 10:54:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
