Re: EPA Set to Close Library Network and Electronic Catalog

[David Goodman <dgoodman@Princeton.EDU>]

It is unavoidable that research in many fields depends on 
government funding. It is unavoidable that some parts of the 
information chain such as national libraries and copyright 
offices require centralized government operation.

But Peter is right that the preservation of published scientific 
information should not be under the control of any one 
organization,

certainly not a government because of the interference of 
politics, usually mediated by publishers, not a public 
university, dependent upon state funding, not a private 
university, whose priorities may change any time, not individual 
learned societies, whose fiscal stability is uncertain, not a 
commercial publisher, subject to change in ownership, and 
bankruptcy.

This leaves only arrangements with the material in multiple 
decentralized locations--and open to individuals who wish to 
mirror, as many will.

The possibility of such arrangements obviously depend upon open 
access. Then, with the material downloaded, it does not matter 
what happens to PMC, NIH, the United States government, journals, 
publishers, or libraries.

Those who understand the implication of what Peter says, must 
agree with the need for OA. Let us first of all fill the 
archives, as a colleague puts it.

Dr. David Goodman
Associate Professor
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Long Island University
and formerly
Princeton University Library

dgoodman@liu.edu
dgoodman@princeton.edu

----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Banks <pbanks@diabetes.org>
Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 7:42 pm
Subject: Re: EPA Set to Close Library Network and Electronic Catalog
To: cahamake@email.uncc.edu, liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu

> This may point out the irony of believing that the federal 
> government is the best entity for the stable, long-term 
> preservation of literature--a belief that underlies the current 
> NIH policy. The proposed FY07 NIH budget does not raise 
> confidence in the long-term stability of federal funding for 
> document preservation.
>
> Peter Banks
> Publisher
> American Diabetes Association
> Email: pbanks@diabetes.org
>
>>>> cahamake@email.uncc.edu 02/17/06 8:34 PM >>>
> http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=643
>
> Under G.Bush Jr.'s proposed budget, the U.S. Environmental
> Protection Agency is slated to shut down its network of libraries
> that serve its own scientists as well as the public, according to
> internal agency documents released today by Public Employees for
> Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In addition to the
> libraries, the agency will pull the plug on its electronic
> catalog which tracks tens of thousands of unique documents and
> research studies that are available nowhere else."
>
> Chuck Hamaker
> Associate University Librarian Collections and Technical Services
> Atkins Library
> University of North Carolina Charlotte
> Charlotte, NC 28223
> phone 704 687-2825