Reflections of a Somewhat Weary Open Access Supporter

Marcus A. Banks, UCSF LibraryPLoS Staff MeetingNovember 1, 2007

marcus.banks@library.ucsf.edu

Agenda

• Introduction:– My Open Access Credentials

• Rueful Reflections:– Unproductive rhetorical struggle – Anti open access propaganda– Pro open access distortions

• “Conflation of badness” • Unfair criticism of HINARI

• Conclusions:– OA and traditional publishers fighting over a dying model – Librarians and publishers can work together productively in a

post-journal article world

Open Access Credentials

• Biomedical Digital Libraries editor

• EBLIP peer reviewer

• First published commentary enthuses about potential for open access publishing

• Signer of Budapest Open Access Initiative

• Co-organizer of scholarly communications symposium at Georgetown University– Andy Gass of PLoS among the first speakers

Anti Open Access Propaganda

• Publishers Research Consortium (Mild)– May 2007: Denial of OA citation advantage– Funded by traditional publishing companies– Worth reading, but with a grain of salt

• PRISM Coalition (Extreme)– Alarmist rhetoric: Gov’t. control of science– Claims fictitious support from publishers– Publishing lobby potent even when wrong

Pro Open Access Distortions: “Conflation of Badness”

• Problem: Conflating one unavailable article to stand for many similar articles

HINARI et al. What’s to Criticize?

• HINARI/AGORA/OARE– WHO programs founded with leading traditional publishers to

provide content to researchers in developing countries– Medicine, agricultural, environmental studies– Available free or at low cost, depending on per capita income of

country

• Subsidized by high subscription fees of libraries in wealthy nations (“Robin Hood”)

• Good PR for publishers – That’s why they do it, but who cares?

• Good content for researchers– Ends justify means in this case

PLoS Article Criticizing HINARI

• “Is HINARI a Step Backwards?” – PLoS Medicine 2007 (Villafuerte-Galvez et. al)– Claim: Deficient HINARI access in Peru in 200– Author Goal: Health information for all by 2015

(Lancet 2004)

• Rebuttal (PAHO Librarian Gaby Caro)– Authors informed of technical difficulties at time of

study– Situation has improved significantly since then– HINARI is a great good for Peru

Personal HINARI Experience

• Trainer in Ibadan, Nigeria (summer 2007)– Grant to Medical Library Association from Elsevier

• “Train-the-trainer” workshops for librarians• Technical challenges: None

– As in Peru, online access was fine• Cultural Challenge: Librarians reluctant to share

passwords with their patrons– Fear of abuse if password was widespread, and/or– A means of holding onto power

• Criticizing HINARI seems counterproductive – Cultural challenges much more worrisome

Conclusion: The Future of Publishing

• Claim: Open access publishing the latest stage of an antiquated model based on paper and ink– Consequence: Open access publishers and traditional

publishers are fighting over a dying model

• What the future holds:– Datuments; interactive publications– Publisher role: Synthesizers of digital packages– Librarian role: Retrievers of digital packages– Everyone’s role: Organizers of digital packages

• Exciting new era for all of us