Information Services & Use - Volume 23, issue 2-3

Authors: Grüttemeier, Herbert | Mahon, Barry

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-301

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 49-52, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-302

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 53-53, 2003

Article Type: Introduction

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-303

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 55-61, 2003

Authors: Uhlir, Paul F.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Public research is largely an open, communitarian, and cooperative system. It is founded on freedom of inquiry, sharing of data, and full disclosure of results by scientists whose motivations are rooted primarily in intellectual curiosity, the desire to influence the thinking of others about the natural world, peer recognition for their achievements, and promotion of the public interest. Although this normative and value structure of public science predated the revolution in digitally networked technologies, it makes it ideally suited to experiment with and exploit those new technological capabilities, which themselves facilitate open, distributed, and cooperative uses of information. It is …no coincidence, therefore, that the emergence and early institutionalization of many new paradigms of virtual knowledge-based communities and related information activities have occurred in public science. Examples include open journals, open archives, federated data management networks, community-based open peer review, collaboratories for virtual experiments, and virtual observatories, among others. Taken together, these emerging capabilities represent aspects of a broader trend toward both formal and informal peer production of information in a highly distributed, volunteer, and open environment. Such activities are based on principles that may be more accurately characterized as intellectual commons, rather than intellectual property, and that reflect the communitarian ethos of the republic of science. This presentation will describe several new models of information production, management, and dissemination in public science, and analyze some of the key factors and conditions for their success. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-304

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 63-66, 2003

Authors: Franklin, Jack

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-305

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 67-86, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-306

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 87-89, 2003

Article Type: Other

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 91-91, 2003

Authors: Bolman, Pieter

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The Open Access movement has been with us in various disguises for the last decade or so. Initially driven by the idealistic notion that technology would free us from the Faustian grip of the academic (paper) publishers by offering a cheap and superior alternative, it is now slowly realized that the ‘old’ system is remarkably more robust than originally thought and that publishers do offer (some) added value after all. Fuelled by the ‘serials crisis’, for which, conveniently, the (commercial) publishers are blamed, it has managed to make converts in the library world as a liberating solution to their budgeting …problems and those who caused them. The reality is, however, that the movement has failed to bring about its utopia and the most promising prospects are currently experimenting with business models that show some fundamentally flaws, both from a financial and from an author incentive point of view. The speaker will argue that the access situation has improved dramatically over the past 7 years and that there is little evidence that the current players (authors, readers/users, librarians, publishers, etc.) are dissatisfied to such an extent that the Open Access revolution will fill the deeply felt need it claims to do. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-308

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 93-98, 2003

Authors: Morris, Sally

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Publishers are all in favour of maximising access to works of scholarship; it's good for authors, and it's good for journals. Open Access is not all or nothing – there are a variety of ways in which publishers can increase access to journals: licensing, archival access, author agreements, deals for less developed countries, not to mention the Open Access business model. However, publishing costs money (even electronic publication does not reduce costs dramatically), and the costs need to be recovered somehow. Placing content in freely accessible open archives without having an alternative cost-recovery model in place could be disastrous, for …journals are genuinely valuable to the scholarly community. Moving towards the Open Access model may be attractive, but it's not simple. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-309

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 99-101, 2003

Authors: Powell, Andy

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-310

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 103-104, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-311

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 105-108, 2003

Article Type: Other

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 109-109, 2003

Authors: Bilder, Geoffrey

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Ingenta occupies an interesting niche in the online publishing world-the company's position as an intermediary between publishers and libraries means that we have to address the very different reactions that publishers and libraries are having to “Open Access” initiatives in scholarly publishing. Ingenta sees opportunities for both publishers and libraries, and, of course, we see ways in which Ingenta can provide services to both communities using the standards, protocols and tools the OA community has developed. At the most basic level, we believe that Ingenta can provide enhanced OAI based services as an application service provider to those institutions …who do not have, or are not prepared to dedicate, the resources necessary for running a service in-house. On top of that, we believe that the resources that are likely to be stored in OAI repositories are very likely to compliment (not replace) the kind of material that is traditionally published and hosted on Ingenta. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-313

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 111-112, 2003

Authors: Velterop, Jan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In order to do justice to the collective and universal nature of science, the free exchange of research results is nothing less than imperative. This can only mean free and open access to these results. Before the internet, the physical limitations of print made universal open access a practical impossibility. But now that the internet is proving to be such a useful instrument of disseminating information, these physical constraints have disappeared. Left are only the economic constructs of subscriptions and licences, which are relics of the past, when they were the appropriate models for print publications. Publishing is, of course, …not without costs. BioMed Central is pioneering a so-called ‘input-paid’ publishing model that recoups the costs from article processing charges rather than subscriptions or licences. The resulting ‘open access’ to scientific literature delivers maximum visibility and impact in addition to increased speed of publication and dramatically lower costs to the community. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-314

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 113-115, 2003

Authors: Mittler, Elmar

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-315

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 117-118, 2003

Authors: Dreier, Thomas

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The intervention will focus on the legal framework for access to scientific and technical information. It will outline the mechanism and function of copyright in original text information and the legal protection granted to the collection of facts, data and other scientific materials in electronic databases. An important issue in this regard is the relationship between technical protection measures (TPM) and digital rights management systems (DRMs) and the boundaries of exclusive protection as well as between techno-legal protection and economic marketing models. It will be argued that the current problems are much less the result of an ever-increasing legal protection …than of an information policy which is largely influenced by technology and economic concers of global players. Indeed, copyright should neither be held responsible for, nor burdened with, unsolved issues of information policy. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-316

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 119-120, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-317

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 121-123, 2003

Article Type: Other

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 125-125, 2003

Authors: Guillopé, Laurent

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Following a brief presentation of the database activities of the Cellule MathDoc (CMD), the paper focuses on the NUMDAM project lead by CMD on behalf of the CNRS. The purpose of the project is the retro-digitization of mathematical materials back to the 19th Century in order to contribute to the preservation of the world's cultural heritage in mathematics and improve mathematicians' access to the literature. The basic elements underlying NUMDAM are non-proprietary standards, such as XML and Unicode, a highly structured hyperlink model and collaboration with the various players in the scientific publishing community. A preliminary version of the …NUMDAM site, conforming to the basic tenets of an OAI environment, was opened at the end of 2002. This paper also covers the major issues of metadata, intellectual property rights, copyright, and economic models. Examples of NUMDAM-related projects are given. In conclusion, some good practices on the part of researchers are discussed. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-319

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 127-131, 2003

Authors: Charnay, Daniel

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper describes the Centre for Direct Scientific Communication (CCSD) of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and focuses more on the “container” rather that on the “content”. Dedicated to open access and the archiving of scientific publications, the centre has a threefold mission: creation of full-text international databases, self-archiving by scientists, long-term preservation. To achieve this mission, the centre relies on two servers, HAL for articles and TEL for theses, and on its mirror sites for ArXiv and Physnet. The underlying technology used is the Eprint technology adapted to French. The centre also relies strongly on its …collaboration with ArXiv at Cornell, CERN in Geneva and INIST and the MathDoc network in France. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-320

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 133-137, 2003

Authors: Harnad, Stevan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Researchers do research in order to make an impact – so that their findings will have maximal effect on the present and future course of learned inquiry. The measure of that impact is the degree to which their work is seen, read, used, built-upon, cited, and applied by their fellow-researchers. It is palpable evidence of this research impact that also brings researchers their material rewards: salary, promotion, tenure, research grants, prestige, prizes. Note very especially that no rewards are sought or received by researchers from toll-revenues for access to their research output. It accordingly follows that all access reduction that …occurs because of access tolls translates directly into impact reduction for researchers. From this it follows that to maximize the potential impact of their work, researchers must maximize its potential access. This can be, and is being done, by two complementary means: By publishing it in open access journals (when those exist in their research area) (BOAI Strategy 2) or by self-archiving in open-access eprint archives (BOAI Strategy 1) the work that they publish in toll-access peer-reviewed journals. The maximization of research impact is in the interest not only of researchers and research progress, but of their institutions and their research grant funders, hence also of tax-paying citizens. In the Gutenberg age, open access to the peer-reviewed research corpus was not a possibility, because of the unavoidable true costs of on-paper publication. In the on-line age, all costs other than that of implementing peer review (at most $500 per paper) are no longer necessary. (Toll-access revenues per published paper from the few institutions that can afford access to the journal in which it appeared average $2000.) While there is still a market, toll-based journals can and will continue to exist, but they must co-exist with open-access to the entire research corpus, provided by author/institution self-archiving of all peer-reviewed research output. A little reflection will confirm that there is only one way to resolve the PostGutenberg conflict of interest between what is best for toll-revenue streams and what is best for research providers, now that open access has been demonstrated to be not only possible, but feasible, virtually overnight, through self-archiving. Hence, as of now, researchers have only themselves to blame, historically, for any further impact-loss because of needless access-loss. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-321

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 139-142, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-322

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 143-145, 2003

Article Type: Other

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 147-147, 2003

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-324

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 149-159, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-325

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 161-163, 2003

Article Type: Other

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 165-165, 2003

Authors: Prosser, David

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The current model of scholarly communications fails to meet the information needs of researchers world-wide. New technology (in particular the coming of the internet) allows us to revise or to reinvent scholarly communication. This talk discusses the new models that are taking advantage of the new technology and describes a possible future for scholarly communications. In particular, I focus on the development of institutional repositories and open access journals and the way their interaction could result in a future where the world's research is available to all.

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-327

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 167-170, 2003

Authors: Guedon, Jean-Claude

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-328

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 171-173, 2003

Authors: Gradmann, Stefan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The EC-funded FIGARO project is concerned with free access to electronic scientific information in three major respects: it tackles major issues of publication economy by introducing a novel federate business model (this aspect has already been presented by Bas Savenije in Leuven recently), it will implement the OAI-protocol (which of course is useful, but not sufficiently original to merit a separate presentation in this conference), and it is strongly concerned with technical aspects of free access to electronic information objects. While briefly mentioning the two others I will concentrate on this last aspect in my presentation and thus talk about …issues such as open, vendor independent document models, identifiers and open linking/pointing techniques as prerequisites for electronic information being freely accessible. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-329

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 175-177, 2003

Authors: Grivell, Les

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Searching for specific pieces of information scattered across multiple articles in the full text literature or other databases, demands computer-based tools to aid the human expert. Such tools must cope with the complexities of natural language(s), be capable of unambiguous recognition of the idiosyncratic gene and other symbols devised by scientists and deal with a variety of other linguistic complications. As part of the response to this challenge, EMBO took the lead to create the E-BioSci network, a scientific information service that will interlink genomic and other factual or image data with the life sciences research literature. The service …will be developed together with partners from different research institutions across Europe and will receive financial support from the European Commission for the coming three years. The prototype currently under construction facilitates intelligent searching of full text, document-neighbouring based on semantic content, cross-repository searching and cross-language searching. It permits recognition of gene and protein symbols in full text with an indication of database lookup services available. Future versions will provide graphical representation of semantic relationships between documents and entities retrieved in searches. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-330

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 179-182, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-331

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 183-185, 2003

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-332

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 187-189, 2003

Authors: Franklin, Jack

Article Type: Meeting Report

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-333

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 191-198, 2003

Article Type: Announcement

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2003-232-334

Citation: Information Services & Use, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 199-199, 2003