For a nuanced discussion of Sci-hub from a librarians’ perspective see: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2018/11/09/a-librarian-perspective-on-sci-hub-the-true-solution-to-the-scholarly-communication-crisis-is-in-the-hands-of-the-academic-community-not-librarians/

 

The gentleman who was overzealously prosecuted by Jstor was activist Aaron Swartz, who co-founded Reddit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

 

Best wishes

 

 

Dear Emily

I am aware of it, yes.  As far as I am aware the content is made available by researchers who have disregarded copyright when uploading full text articles to the site.  Which might explain why the URL keeps changing! 

 

I haven’t been following the full story of its development but the basic argument by the creator seems to be that researchers are often unable to access relevant research in their own field due to the expense of journal subscriptions.  They also object to the way that subscription journals operate.  i.e. in order to progress in your career it is better to publish in the more prestigious journals, who charge the author to publish, and then retain the copyright and then charge *again* to access the article.  This has led to authors being unable to access or share their own work..

 

The open access movement has had some casualties.  I can’t remember the name off the top of my head but a guy in the States was arrested after he mass downloaded documents using his library access.  He hadn’t actually done anything illegal.  He basically just did the electronic equivalent of checking out all the library books in one go.  But while in his cell he was reported to have committed suicide.  The owner of the Sci-Hub website (who is in hiding) cites this as a reason for not handing themselves in for copyright infringement.

 

To be honest I wouldn’t publically admit to using this site and certainly wouldn’t publicise it in any form to my users. 

Kind regards

 

Jenny

 

Jennifer Moth | Clinical Outreach Librarian  
Education, Training and Development (ETD) | Oliveira Library

Education Centre | Isle of Wight NHS Trust | St Marys Hospital | Parkhurst Road | Newport | Isle of Wight | PO30 5TG
01983 822099 ext 4519

 

Normal Working Hours

Mon - Fri 9.15am - 3.45pm | Day off Weds | Based in A&E Fri 10am - 12pm

 

 

 

 

 

Dear all,

 

The other day I went to a talk about Open Access publishing and heard about SciHub for the first time, and now I’m very curious about how well known it is… Have you heard of SciHub? Do you use it, professionally or privately? Do you have an opinion about it? Do you do anything to raise awareness about it (tacitly or otherwise) among your library users?

 

Thank you for any feedback!

Kind regards,

 

Emily

_____________________________________________________________

Emily Green
Asst Librarian

 

Reay House Library  (LSW)

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

 

Lambeth Hospital  | 108 Landor Road | London | SW9 9NT | 020 3228 6141

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