I am not under any delusion that such things are gratis. But if we can
make them libre then we can at least work on facilitating access for as
many people as possible without commercial profits being factored in.
Can we as a species afford to restrict our body of knowledge in the way
we do know? Our next Einstein may be languishing in some poor nation
that can't afford such access...
On the other hand, the cost to each academic of hosting a web site for
their work is so small that if we all hosted our own work then there
would be no need at all to charge others for access. Libraries expenses
for accessing work would then be seriously reduced as they would only
have to afford the cost of a content aggregation system, and not
licensing fees.
Regards,
Morgan Leigh
PhD Candidate
School of Sociology and Social Work
University of Tasmania
On 12/12/2010 12:06 AM, Peter McCormack wrote:
> Morgan
> It is never truly 'open' in the sense of 'free'. Someone will always
> have to pay.
> Peter
>
> On 11 December 2010 09:43, Morgan Leigh <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>
> And this is exactly why we need open access...
>
> Regards,
>
> Morgan Leigh
> PhD Candidate
> School of Sociology and Social Work
> University of Tasmania
>
> On 10/12/2010 10:30 PM, Peter McCormack wrote:
> > Daniel
> > Ethos works in the main by the host institution paying a subscription.
> > Requests for digitization of theses are then defrayed from this sum,
> > currently at a max of £42.
> > Ethos has been very successful and member institutions frequently
> 'run
> > out' of money before the end of the subscription year. This may have
> > happened in the case of the institutions who have the material you
> > requested. In other words they may not have withdrawn and may renew
> > subs next year.
> > Also, as I understand you or your affiliated institution can also pay
> > for the digitization.
> > Peter
> >
> >
> > On 9 December 2010 14:51, Daniel Harms <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> > <mailto:[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>> wrote:
> >
> > I just received a notification from the British Library's EThOS
> > thesis digitization effort that two of my requests could not be
> > fulfilled because institutions had withdrawn from the program.
> Does
> > anyone have any more insight into this?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Dan Harms
> > Instructional Services Librarian and Bibliographer
> > SUNY Cortland Memorial Library
> > P. O. Box 2000
> > Cortland, NY 13045
> > (607) 753-4042
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Peter McCormack
> > Sub-Librarian (Head of Technical Services)
> > SOAS Library Tech. Services Dept.,
> > Thornhaugh Street
> > Russell Square
> > London WC1H 0XG
>
> --
>
>
>
>
> --
> Peter McCormack
> Sub-Librarian (Head of Technical Services)
> SOAS Library Tech. Services Dept.,
> Thornhaugh Street
> Russell Square
> London WC1H 0XG
--
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