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hi Alan, Dan,

Alan Pritchard: 
>> I am going to undertake some research into the exclusion of 
>> independent researchers from library resources that are 
>> held only as e-resources. ...
 
>> The background is that I am revising a bibliography that I first
>> compiled in the late '70s for my FLA (Fellowship of the Library
>> Association) thesis.... 

I ran into this problem in constructing/revising bibliographies 
also (from a computer, just searching the net for bibliographic
data). that is, i encountered barriers (i am not sure how solid)
to accessing data i needed for such revision. in some cases it
was due to my not being part of any academic institution (being
an independent researcher as you have characterized it). I have
not very often gone made extra efforts to approach librarians 
as is suggested below by Mr. Harms, but i would if i had an
interest in moving to greater specialization.

>> ...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.

I would extend that to "who do not have an affiliation to
*any* institution", but i am not sure if you are dealing 
with academics or with an academic approach regardless 
of affiliation.
  
Dan Harms:
> An important question is what steps have been taken by the users.  
> For example, some libraries offer guest passes to users who do 
> not have an institutional affiliation.  

I found this was the case at my local university where i used
to live. I lapsed in and out of being a student there, but was
able to use the facilities as i desired with special membership.

> Simply sitting down at a computer might not make that option 
> available, but talking to a librarian might.  

agreed. do you think that this is going to require a phone call,
or are independent researchers as likely to get what we want
by an email to the library or librarian in question? that is,
are you suggesting that a particular communication method is
more likely to result in success than others? I imagine that
over time email or form mail will be an acceptable method of
contact but cannot be sure. see below.
 
> ...it'll be important to tease out the distinctions between 
> "no open access to databases" and "negotiated access to 
> databases." 

and i would add "and to whom, by what method". that is, if
your investigation is to determine what academic barriers 
there are to different affiliations that is one thing, and
it is quite another to determine what barriers there may be
to non-academics who are employing academic methods outside
of any institution (which seems to me more and more often
the case within certain fields).

> A more systematic way of approaching this would be to 
> do the following:
> 1)      Choose a selected group of libraries
> 2)      Check their websites for their policy on guest 
> access to electronic resources
> 3)      Write those on which you can't find the policy 
> to ask them what theirs is.

very sound. this should also include minimum requirements as 
regards the individual making the contact or seeking access.
 
> This will give you some hard data - where is access available?  
> How much is this made known?  How many institutions didn't 
> bother to write me back? - that the personal narratives can 
> back up or refute.

'Write those' and 'write me back' do not specify how this 
is handled. I suggest that in different (but less and less 
numerous) regions of the world this may include or require
any of the following:

	-- email
	-- form mail
	-- fax
	-- phone
	-- physical letter
	-- physical appointment with the librarian

and my experience (limited) is that some accept or 
REQUIRE certain subsets of these depending upon how
often they are contacted and how much time and skill
they have available to extend themselves to these 
communicative modes.

> I'm not the one here who looks over the contracts, 
> but librarians will confirm that access to all is 
> prohibitively expensive in most contracts.
> A certain number of guest users might be approved 
> as part of the licensing agreement.  If you want 
> me to put you in touch with our local electronic 
> resources librarian, please write me off-list.

completely agreed. what is part of a policy and what
is allowed with negotiation on a case by case basis
is also liable to vary. social relations and letters
of introduction and recommendation may also facilitate.
making these policies clear will allow a clearer view
of how free information access actually is and to whom.

thank you for your attention to this issue.

nagasiva yronwode ([log in to unmask]), Director 
  YIPPIE*! -- http://www.yronwode.org/
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  *Yronwode Institution for the Preservation
   and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
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