Comments on: when good librarians go bad, genuine options in librarianship

By: Tyrell Cypret

Tyrell Cypret — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:41:37 +0000

Consider & Preserve your iPad for No fee! -> http://bit.ly/cFBuis

By: Mon Memex · Le piratage des articles de périodiques électroniques

Mon Memex · Le piratage des articles de périodiques électroniques — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:36:04 +0000

[...] y a quelques semaines, Jessamyn West a publié sur son blogue un exemple où quelqu’un a obtenu un article de périodique en publiant un statut sur [...]

By: MCS

MCS — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:23:32 +0000

“if the world was one big library and we all had interlibrary loan at that library, we could lend anything to anyone”

As a publisher and economist, I have to respond — and no one would publish ‘anything’. Or the cost of that publication would be absorbed by institutions and individuals in different way.

Publishing and disseminating scholarship has real costs (yes, I know Elsevier has great profits) and they have to be covered somehow. Mostly these are fixed costs and it might be terrific if some august multi-national body (the UN?) covered the cost of all research and publishing, but that’s not the case. & wouldn’t we worry about who controlled what was researched and published in such a world?

On the margin giving a copy to someone doesn’t have a cost, that’s why ILL was developed. But the more widely that happens the more the economics of research and publishing deteriorates. If the system can develop a payment mechanism that covers all the real costs of publishing, disseminating, and preserving the results of research in the modern world (electronic) and allows free access to everyone that’s great. Let’s hear your proposals for a real system, not just pride at being pirates.

What cost do you think is ‘fair’ for a pay per view article–and what sets that level for you?

By: Bibliotheken, Google en zoeken in Februari 2010 « Dee'tjes

Bibliotheken, Google en zoeken in Februari 2010 « Dee'tjes — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:35:39 +0000

[...] When good librarians go bad, genuine options in librarianship (Librarian.net) “if the world was one big library and we all had interlibrary loan at that library, we could lend anything to anyone“ [...]

By: Kaukolainausta p2p-tyyliin « Riippumaton asiantuntija

Kaukolainausta p2p-tyyliin « Riippumaton asiantuntija — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:05:53 +0000

[...] S. mainitsi tuon Jessamyn Westin kirjoituksen When good librarians go bad, genuine options in librarianship [...]

By: Megan N.

Megan N. — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:56:39 +0000

I am library student who has come the long route to library school and have worked as a cataloguer for regional library system where I would regularly get items interlibrary loan. I could get stuff via the back door of knowing the librarian involved and have been able to work within the rules, but via networking to get my friends and patrons what they needed. It always felt good, but when I moved to a smaller system I missed the power of a union catalogue and end up spending too much at used bookstores.

By: Jonathon S.

Jonathon S. — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:52:05 +0000

There’s an entire livejournal community—’article_request’—whose major purpose is for students and others to request copies of papers that their university doesn’t provide access to….

By: John

John — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:11:01 +0000

Chris wrote:

If they can point out how sharing this hurts the author, in concrete real terms, then their argument has some merit.

Certainly. If I sneak into a musician’s house and take money of his wallet, this is no different from illegally downloading one of his songs. Both methods take money — property — away from its owner. That’s harm.

By: Week of Links 2/7/10 | Tomorrow Museum

Week of Links 2/7/10 | Tomorrow Museum — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:01:22 +0000

[...] This is an aside titled 'Week of Links 2/7/10' dated 2/8/10 All map, no territory. Internet Archaeology tumblr (via.) Another great Sam Anderson piece in New York mag, this one on ChatRoulette. Los Angeles no longer plays itself. Found that on Interdome, a great blog on the age of atemporality. I can’t wait to read Triple Canopy on an iPad. And comics. Are the suited for digital? Listen to Scott McLeod on this. “There’s Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night,” short stories about Rurual Shanxi peasants, by Cao Naiqian, entirely “concerned with the basic instincts for food and sex.” looks interesting. Someone is trying to send Jerry Saltz a message. Do you look pretty or smart? Save the egg drinks! Lauren Cornell on how net art is not new, it’s been thriving for nearly two decades now. More from Tom Moody. Bot-Mediated Reality. Alan Lomax in Haiti. And in the middle of all that, one woman cried out, “Fuck this.” “With enough libraries, all content is free.” – Jessamyn West. [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:04:00 +0000

My litmus test is, if someone uses the phrase ‘Intellectual Property’ their argument automatically loses all value and is pointless. Much the same as the term ‘Politically correct’. If they can point out how sharing this hurts the author, in concrete real terms, then their argument has some merit.

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:03:54 +0000

I know when I perform work or contribute something to a project I like to get paid. And then there are things like this, the Code of Ethics that independent info pros subscribe to as a matter of course. “Recognize intellectual property rights.” That’s just up the road from “Don’t be evil” if you get my drift.

Most academic libraries have to sign a contract with the vendors (there’s still more than one vendor, right?) that severely limits access to the information. I only wish *any* of my alma maters could let me buy access.

I heard once of a professor who shared his password with students & colleagues on another continent so they could access databases provided by his university library. The VP of academic resources immediately labeled him the Global Village Idiot and changed his password.

We learn to share in kindergarten but the message we’ve internalized by the time we become professionals is that sharing is wrong. Bummer.

By: barbara fister

barbara fister — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:48:29 +0000

What seems especially weird to me is that LIBRARIANS as authors can’t be bothered to put their work where their mouth is. Why agree to make your work hard to obtain while lecturing people in other disciplines that they should go open access? By the way, you can post articles you publish in JAL online and make them accessible, though Elsevier has inconvenience built into their author agreement. Hardly any librarians bother, though. That’s a real disservice to the values of our profession and to our colleagues. It also makes my head hurt.

By: Loren MccRory

Loren MccRory — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:53:13 +0000

Just to clarify, if info isn’t free, who decides? Vermont, or one of the other states that has contracted with subscription vendors? Librarians have not only created the monstrous database costs, we’ve also been responsible for the support and feeding.

Mashable content and Creative Commons will be our resources in the future. Contributing, not just distributing will be the solution.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:14:03 +0000

Thank you for this! There are Livejournal communities of graduate students dedicated to backchannel ILL, which, in the current climate, I wholeheartedly support. The situation with access to expensive electronic journals and databases is a classic case of “to those who already have, more shall be given”: those without stable academic affiliations, on the fringes of the academy, are least likely to have reliable access and not remotely likely to be able to afford subscriptions or outrageous pay-per-view fees. And you know what? Chances that scholars in the humanities and social sciences will ever side with vendors and publishers on this are nil: the content of these databases represents the uncompensated or undercompensated labor of precisely the people who can’t afford to pay individually for access.

By: John

John — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:50:55 +0000

I take issue with the Facebooker who claimed that the journal’s price was evil.

It’s their property, not hers. They should be able to charge any price they want, or not even offer it for sale, should they desire.

No one is under any moral obligation to surrender their property for any reason. If you want it, buy it. If it’s not for sale, too bad.