Dear List,
Please bear with me, as this is a rather long post, but I think some
explanatory background is necessary.
I am going to undertake some research into the exclusion of independent
researchers from library resources that are held only as e-resources. I hope
that I can use this group to test out some of my assumptions and refine and
formalise my questions before going to a wider audience. It seems especially
appropriate given the scope of this group.
The background is that I am revising a bibliography that I first compiled in
the late '70s for my FLA thesis. Then I could go to any library and use the
printed resources that I needed (e.g. Chemical Abstracts, Dissertation
Abstracts, Aslib Index to Theses, MLA Bibliography, Psychological Abstract,
Art Index and many others). Now, if I go to a library, the odds are that
abstracting and indexing services especially, but also primary journals, are
held in electronic form and access to them is denied to independent
researchers who do not have an affiliation to the particular institution.
This seems counter to several trends and principles. Without going into
detail (although I could!), I would cite:
(a) the traditional library principles of freedom of access for all
research. Think of Ranganathan's Five Laws, or Michael Gorman's modification
of these, especially "Use technology intelligently to enhance service" and
"Protect free access to knowledge." Library principles are in line with the
openness of the Internet at large and the accessibility of information to
all users (including those not able to physically get to a library).
(b) Open Access publishing. "Many librarians have been vocal and active
advocates of open access. These librarians believe that open access promises
to remove both the *price barriers* and the *permission barriers* that
undermine library efforts to provide access to the journal literature" -
Wikipedia
(c) Changes in social patterns of working life, with an increasing number of
independent researchers/professionals who will tend not to be associated
with academic bodies all their lives, but who will provide professional
services on a self-employed basis. They will still require access to their
professional literature. Sociologists have recognised this problem with the
formation of Sociologists Outside Academia group (SOAg) which is part of the
British Sociological Association.
In view of the above, I want to try an get some information on various
aspects of the problem - at first on a fairly unstructured basis, before
going more widely to the library community. Some questions, therefore:
1. Does your organisation provide any access to e-resources to outside users
(i.e. other than current students or staff). I would guess that there might
be a range here from 'No' through 'Yes, to ex-members of staff' to 'Yes,
open to all'.
2. If not, why not?
3. Some possible reasons that have been suggested are:
(a) the contract between the library and the data provider. Talking to
suppliers at one of the shows some while ago, people on the stands denied
that there were any restrictive clauses, but these were sales people (!). It
would be really helpful to see examples of contracts (or of restrictive
clauses). Has any institution made any attempts to get contract terms
altered?
(b) one suggestion made was that there was differential pricing so that
access to all was more expensive than access restricted to staff & students.
Is this the case? Examples would be helpful.
Replies off-list would be best, I think and I will summarise.
Please, if any other aspects of this problem occur to you that I have not
covered, do not hesitate to email me.
I would also be happy to discuss any of these issues over the phone, as
well.
Best wishes
Alan Pritchard MPhil FCLIP
Tel: +44 (0)1202 417477
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