Alma, you are surely familiar with the ciber study "Scholarly communication in the digital environment: what do authors want" ciber.soi.city.ac.uk/ciber-pa-report.pdf , which provides probably the best current data. It does show many authors unaware of OA; it also shows the desire for it among those who are aware. (It represents the situation in Jan 2004, and I expect any scientist who reads even only Nature is now somewhat more up to date.). I suggest it only as representative of the available data, not as a methodological example.
The methodologically best evidence is to measure what people really do. The evidence from Brody (et al.) that people actually read by preference OA versions is more valuable than any survey of opinions on the subject, or any amount of the questionnaires we have depended on. I really do not see the point of another opinion survey. David Goodman [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: American Scientist Open Access Forum on behalf of Alma Swan Sent: Sat 10/23/2004 12:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Who Needs Open Access, and Why? At a meeting last week it was stated that there is no evidence that researchers WANT open access. I'm not sure anyone has actually asked them this, formally, so I am about to carry out an exercise to gather data on the topic. I would like to hear from librarians, open archive administrators and researchers themselves on this issue. In her recent posting to this forum, Paula Callan produced an example of the reactions of a researcher in her institution, including some specific statistics on the usage of his work. This is the sort of information I need - attributable evidence (with empirical data included if it exists) for or against the notion that researchers WANT open access. Does anyone else have similar evidence one way or the other, please? Please - no humble opinions, no unsubstantiated impressions, no speculative thoughts. I need data that will stand up to scrutiny. I am happy to receive responses offline, though this community would probably benefit from hearing them. Final word: I have plenty of statistics about researchers not being AWARE of open access. That is not the same as not WANTING it and I am not interested in uninformed researchers' opinions. What I am after are data that indicate whether, once aware of the issues, researchers do or do not want open access - as authors AND readers. Alma P Swan Key Perspectives Ltd Truro, UK [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------ Added by Moderator: Prior Amsci Topic Thread: "Who Needs Open Access, and Why?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3613.html Internet Librarian International 2004. London. 11 October, 2004. http://www.internet-librarian.com/Monday.shtml#OpenAccess Discussion Dialup Video: http://www.streamingmedia.com/internetlibrarian/inetlib3_56.asx Discussion Broadband Video: http://www.streamingmedia.com/internetlibrarian/inetlib3_300.asx
