Comments on: Please sign the Open Access Anthropology Letter

By: Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog » Cultural Anthropology 2.0

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:19:18 +0000

[...] The first issue of Cultural Anthropology under the editorship of Kim and Mike Fortun is out, and I am a willing participant in the media blitz. The first issue has a few articles that look great (although, as we already know, you need to be a AAA member to access them). One is an article on memory in Sierra Leone—articulating nicely with an article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine on child soldiers—I’d love to see her reading of the use of memory in that autobiography. An article by Ilana Feldman on Human Rights in Palestine and an article by Michael M.J. Fischer revisiting culture. [...]

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By: Digging Digitally » Once more on FRPAA

Digging Digitally » Once more on FRPAA — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:25:30 +0000

[...] Now, it is not my purpose to bash the AAA on this matter. I believe very strongly that they are mistaken in their opposition to FRPAA, but I also believe it is essential to fully explore and address the concerns of scholarly societies and their publishing arms. A paper (or a research database or image archive) may be expensive to produce, review, and edit, but virtually instantaneous global distribution is nearly free. This cost equation has the potential to make free and open access economically viable, provided production and editing costs can be sustained. In moving toward open access, we need to consider how the costs will be covered. It is obvious that not every open access model will be sustainable or appropriate for disciplines such as anthropology or archaeology. I can’t imagine “author-side fees” (such as those expected by PLoS) working in these disciplines. I can imagine a system where professional societies, university libraries, and other consortia come together to underwrite and subsidize open access dissemination. Universities and university libraries already spend a great deal of money on publication, and shifting some of these resources toward lower-cost open access systems seems viable. Peter Suber has devoted much attention to this issue and explores many pragmatic options (two examples: here and here.) I’m glad open access advocates in anthropology are careful and judicious in how they approach this issue (see this open letter on Savage Minds). Not all routes toward open access are the same. Some may be more sustainable than others, and some models adhere to the ideals of “open knowledge” more than others. FRPAA represents one strategy, and as noted by Gary Ward (above), FRPAA represents little risk to existing publication frameworks. That said, we must not loose sight of the fact that the current publication regime is in trouble and is not sustainable (here, here, and this imporant letter about cost pressures on the University of California libraries). The AAA needs to remember this broader context before they entrench themselves even further in their opposition to FRPAA. In the name of protecting their subscription revenues, they run the risk of alienating their most important customers: university libraries. After all, these libraries represent one of the groups most supportive of FRPAA. If the AAA refuses to listen to their customers and try to meet their concerns, then those customers will naturally seek alternatives. [...]

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By: ckelty

ckelty — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:24:39 +0000

…and there are similar options appearing from many different publishers these days (though not, significantly, UC Press/AAA, which offers only a “self-archiving” clause in their standard agreement). The main problem is the economic reality that most humanities/social science scholars have neither the individual nor institutional wealth to pay for open access. There are solutions–writing OA fees into your grants for instance, and lobbying chairs and deans to create OA funds for publication–but it’s a much different world than that of the natural sciences and engineering.

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By: Sarapen

Sarapen — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:17:23 +0000

And yes, that’s a lot of money.

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By: Sarapen

Sarapen — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:16:30 +0000

I was doing some other stuff when I came across this:

Taylor & Francis are today delighted to announce the introduction of an “iOpenAccess” option for authors publishing in 175 journals from T&F’s Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics portfolios, one behavioural science journal from Psychology Press, and medical and bioscience journals from Informa Healthcare.

From October 2006, all authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication in one of the iOpenAccess journals will have the option to make their articles freely available to all via the Journal’s website for a one-off fee of $3100.

None of the journals caught my fancy, but your mileage may vary.

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By: Erkan's field diary

Erkan's field diary — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 09:32:22 +0000

“A guide to social web sites……

As more and more social networking sites pop up on the Internet, some people are finding themselves stretched thin. As a result, some are scaling back their involvement. Beyond MySpace and Facebook, two of the most well-known sites, there is……

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