From: "Hamaker, Charles" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2013 05:33:58 +0000

Thanks for hitting the nail on the head Dr. Harnad!  Of course the
assumption should be that a researcher will have already found a
version on the web when requesting an article from a library.

I'm  sure the army of lobbyists  in Washington to oppose FASTR were
delighted at Joe Esposito's and Rick's pronouncements about librarians
considering Green OA as a factor in cancellations.

But that turns out to be much ado about nothing.

(irony and parody alert)

Librarians proposing using green OA as a factor in cancellation are
eating their own seed corn. (see Rick Anderson acknowledging this in
earlier post in this thread)

Warning Will Robinson1 You are too stupid to notice the "free" version
out on the web. Missed  checking the magic box? No soup for you!

You MUST check the box that says you want the version of record or WE
will save money!

The idea that green OA  should be considered as a factor in
cancellation  or as Joe Esposito has opined, "When It Comes to Green
OA, Nice Guys Finish Last" is like the "emperor's new clothes". There
is no There There!

Is that enough bad metaphors for one post?

(parody, irony and metaphor off)

OA is not about subscriptions, or cancellations, it is about
widespread notification and awareness of research, thus enhancing the
fields it supports: providing awareness of cognate fields for
researchers, and neophytes alike, boosting an author's profile, plus a
lot of reasons that we've been discussing for years.

The version of record is still the standard for citation and it isn't
magically disappearing. If cost per use (CPU)for Interlibrary Loan is
Lower than cost per use subscribed, then cancel. But the existence of
Green OA is not germane in that calculation.

Exactly the opposite is true. High CPU Publishers  (i.e. inefficient
perhaps for a particular library )with lengthened or complete embargos
are  harming the very fields they purport to serve and are weakening
the very subjects they supposedly support. Lengthened embargos seem
like a very good reason for an author to choose a different publisher,
one more dedicated to advancing the field or a library to cancel a
high CPU journal which is not serving anyone efficiently with
everything else being equal!  Green OA is a reason to support, not
weaken, a lesser used  title in recognition of the publisher's
expanded support for the field. Rick Anderson has it exactly wrong.

regards
Chuck

________________________________________

From: Stevan Harnad <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2013 18:58:12 -0400

If there is a Green OA version on the Web, why would a user be consulting
a librarian at all, in this day and age (except if they want the version of
record)? No mediation required, for Green access.

SH