From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2015 12:07:36 +0000

Dear Alicia,

Thank you for the additional information.  The reason I think this is one
factor among several that make Elsevier's new policy more complex and
probably unworkable is that these differing embargo lists mean that
repository managers will need to determine the nationality of all authors
on any given paper and then consult the correct embargo list.  Since this
applies at the article level, U.S. repositories will undoubtedly need to
apply both lists in determining appropriate embargoes for any paper
authored by scholars from both countries.  It even raises the question of
who is a U.K. author; is it a U.K. citizen (regardless of where they
work), someone who lives in the U.K. (regardless of nationality or place
of employment), a person employed by a U.K. institution, or a researcher
who is funded by a U.K. body?

We also must agree to disagree, I think, about the continuing role of the
subscription model.  In my opinion, one of the most urgent tasks for
libraries is to find ways to transition their collection funds from
supporting the consumption of scholarship (through subscriptions) to
supporting its production (where the result will usually be some type of
open access).  Many libraries are working on this transition as I write.
Subscription business models were an appropriate response to the
limitations of print technology, but they are rapidly becoming unnecessary
and even counterproductive, since by their nature they disable the most
innovative features of the new environment for scholarship.  It seems
likely, to me, that subscriptions per se will have only a minor role in
library collecting in the future, and expensive subscription conglomerates
like Elsevier probably none.

Best regards,

Kevin

Kevin L. Smith, M.L.S., J.D.
Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communications
Duke University Libraries
[log in to unmask]



On 7/6/15 6:59 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>From: "Wise, Alicia (ELS-OXF)" <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2015 17:32:08 +0000
>
>Dear Kevin,
>
>As explained in my last email, the shorter UK embargo periods apply to
>any article where any one of the authors is from the UK.  The UK is
>the only country in which we currently operate a separate embargo
>list, and we take this approach because the national policy is to
>focus on a transition to gold OA with green OA as a supporting
>mechanism.
>
>If I may, uniform policies with very short embargos rather miss the
>real challenge: to make OA work in reality as part of a sustainable
>scholarly communication system.  If green OA is to work at scale it
>must work alongside the subscription model through which publishing
>costs are recovered.  If funders or authors want immediate open
>access, then the gold OA model is probably the better route, and
>funding for it would be required.  Publishers and librarians may
>disagree on the details, but I hope that we can at least agree on the
>ideal of a sustainable publishing ecosystem.
>
>We are (all!) working in a complex, changing, and varied international
>landscape and it is a challenge (for us all!) to develop clear, fair
>and consistent policies which scale and work in practice.  We continue
>to believe that the changes in our policies are more clear,
>consistent, and flexible for both IRs and for commercial platforms and
>that they will help to make OA work in practice.
>
>With kind wishes,
>Alicia
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2015 12:23:52 +0000
>
>Hi Alicia,
>
>Thank you for this reply.
>
>The more I look at this policy, the more complicated it seems to be.
>
>Does this mean that the same paper could be subject to different
>embargoes on self-archiving, if it was written by authors from both
>sides of the Atlantic?  One embargo imposed on U.S. co-authors and a
>shorter one imposed on U.K. co-authors?  Or would all co-authors
>benefit from the shorter embargo allowed for the U.K. co-authors?  Are
>any other countries subject to this differential rules (we have a
>large number of papers co-written by U.S. authors and authors in
>Asia)?
>
>It does seem to me that the message from this aspect of the new policy
>is that funders, especially government funders, should insist on the
>shortest possible embargos and be inflexible about them.  Otherwise
>U.S. authors find themselves at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis
>their British counterparts.
>
>I appreciate your continued discussion of this involved and difficult
>policy change.
>
>Best,
>
>Kevin
>
>Kevin L. Smith
>Director, Copyright & Scholarly Communication Duke University Libraries
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: "Wise, Alicia (ELS-OXF)" <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:09:39 +0000
>
>Hi Kevin,
>
>In the UK, as part of the sustainable approach to OA negotiated
>amongst all stakeholders via the Finch Group, we have all made changes
>to move forward together.  One of the many changes Elsevier made was
>to adopt a shorter embargo list for the UK.  This operates at article
>level rather than journal level, and applies whenever there is a UK
>author or co-author on a paper.
>
>We obviously want embargo periods that support authors, funders and
>journals.  If a funder insists on 6 month embargo periods and we can't
>see a way for that to be a sustainable green OA option for a journal
>then we have gold OA options available.  Most funders with such
>policies provide funding for gold OA publishing.
>
>While I'm here, please may I draw the attention of liblicense readers
>to an extremely interesting piece written by Lisa Peets in the Library
>Journal:
>
>http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/06/industry-news/sharing-policy-draws-cr
>iticism-elsevier-responds/#_
>
>It suggests a key issue that we are all discussing at present is "who
>should control the scholarly communication system".  Researchers do,
>of course, and sharing articles is important to them.  Both libraries
>and publishers support researchers.  SoŠ how do we move forward
>together to facilitate sharing?  This is the context for a
>conversation tomorrow (Saturday) at the ALA 2015 Annual Conference
>which will be facilitated by Maggie Farrell, the Dean of Libraries and
>the University of Wyoming.  Please join us for conversation about
>scholarly sharing from 10-11am at the Elsevier booth #504.  It's a
>busy event, and there are other meetings on at this time, so do feel
>free to come along for a conversation at other times during the day
>too!
>
>With kind wishes,
>- Alicia