From: Ken Masters <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 08:02:43 +0400

Hi All

Kevin, in spite of some reservations (including some of the issues I
raised), I think that, if you have the resources, you should try to do
this.  Perhaps you could begin by drafting a guiding policy, with
noted problem areas, and it could be circulated on this list.  Those
interested can comment, bringing in their experience from other lists
and sites.

One thing about a suggestion you made: limiting contributions to those
with an .edu email address.  I think this would be very bad.  There
are many reasons that respected researchers do not have an edu
address.  One of them is that they move around and do not wish to have
to change their email address every time they move.   Or they may be
in companies, or "retired", or.....Also, many researchers work at
institutions with poor IT infrastructure, and so use gmail or yahoo
accounts.  As a fair number would be in developing countries, you'll
be on a sticky wicket before you even start.

Regards

Ken

------

Dr. Ken Masters
Asst. Professor: Medical Informatics
Medical Education Unit
College of Medicine & Health Sciences
Sultan Qaboos University


On 9 June 2013 21:26, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 13:23:08 +0000
>
> I appreciate the responses about this idea, which I have to emphasize
> was not mine at all.  I took it from the blog post I circulated, and I
> think it has been suggested before.  I am just trying to get an idea
> of the issues and likely reception, preliminary to even thinking about
> whether it is something I should encourage others to support and
> facilitate.
>
> As Joe points out, lots of business are the subject of dedicated
> review forums, even including physicians (who are a bit sensitive
> about it).  And there is, actually, at least one site for students to
> post reviews about universities at studentsreview.com.
>
> Ken raises directly the question of whether authors would be willing
> to comment honestly or whether the power publishers have over academic
> careers would have a chilling effect, while others suggest the issue
> of how to keep the focus on serious comments.  As to the latter, it
> would probably be impossible to entirely exclude irrelevancies and
> foolishness, but limiting contributions to those with a .edu e-mail
> might help some.  The former question is more troubling.  I wonder if
> the increasing diversity of options that authors have might reduce
> that chilling effect to some degree; it is already the case that one
> can find remarkably un-chilled comments about some publishers in
> online forums.  Registration, accompanied by anonymity for the actual
> remarks might be a solution, but I admit that I have an instinctive
> dislike and distrust of anonymous comments.
>
> And should publishers be able to reply, the way restaurants and hotels
> can respond on Yelp or Travelocity?  I just don't know if that would
> be helpful or would degenerate into "he said, she said."
>
> Anyway, the discussion is interesting and very helpful, IMO.  Thanks.
>
> Kevin L. Smith, M.L.S., J.D.
> Director, Copyright and Scholarly Communication
> Duke University Libraries
> Durham, NC  27708
> [log in to unmask]