On 8 Aug 2004, at 12:40, Leonard Will wrote:
> In message <memo.20040802160400.2096D@aovq45> on Mon, 2 Aug 2004, Alan
> Pritchard <[log in to unmask]> wrote
>>> £3 million national framework for UK research information announced
>>>
>>> Research Libraries Network promises UK researchers 'joined-up'
>>> services
>>
>> <fx: leaps on hobbyhorse>
>> Having looked at the information on this, although it talks about
>> 'the information needs of researchers', it does seem exclusively
>> concerned with corporate researchers, i.e. researchers who are active
>> members of universities.
>
> Alan and others -
>
> I was interested to see this message, as I share your concerns. Now
> that so much information is available electronically, it is extremely
> frustrating to find that it is restricted to those in academic
> institutions which pay for site licences and that there is no
> reasonable means of access for individual researchers who may require
> access just for a short time while working on a specific project.
>
> Many databases are available free to those who are willing and able to
> travel to the BL in London, but their licence terms exclude access
> from anywhere except the BL reading rooms. This does seem
> discriminatory, and the travel cost we have to pay to use these
> services benefits only the railway companies, besides our contributing
> to the congestion in the reading rooms. Even when we go there, they
> block us from emailing search results to ourselves, so that we are
> reduced to making notes with pencil and paper!
>
> As this is a CILIP list, another specific example is that we can
> search LISA if we visit CILIP, but not remotely. They offer to do
> searches for us, using staff time which we pay for in our
> subscriptions, though we could perfectly well do them for ourselves;
> this would not only be cheaper but more effective, as it would allow
> interaction and modification of searches according to what is found.
>
> Presumably most of these problems arise from commercial and licensing
> considerations, but I wish that some alternative models might be
> found. Would it cost CILIP a lot more to pay for a LISA licence that
> gave remote access to all its members, for example? Could the BL
> negotiate a deal that gave remote access to electronic databases to
> its ticket holders - if necessary for a modest fee, perhaps with
> different rates depending on usage, or pay-as-you-go?
>
> Leonard Will
Could it be to do with the use to which researched information is put?
Generally speaking, I imagine that those researchers within the
academic world use their research for the benefit of others, not least
students.
Whereas the commercial exploitation of researched information may only
benefit a minority.
Just a magnanimous thought after a pleasant Sunday dinner.
John
C John Hughes BA MCLIP LIAV MInstLM
External Assessor
External Verifier
IAV-registered NVQ Assessor
Chartered Library and Information Professional
Tel: 01452 417865
mobile: 07986 506 404
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