RE: EPA Set to Close Library Network and Electronic Catalog

["Peter Banks" <pbanks@diabetes.org>]

No, one should not boycott PMC--simply don't trust it as the 
*only* or even primary repository of biomedical literature.

Leave aside the considerable problem of NLM funding being subject 
to the whims of an administration that has accumulated a massive 
deficit and keeps huge war expenditures off budget.

Even if funding could be counted on in the face of skyrocketing 
federal debt, PMC is not a preservation initiative in any real 
sense. It exists to make the current literature (or at least a 
bastard stepchild version of it) freely available. It is designed 
for the wide presentation of literature, not for its long-term 
preservation. Preservation requires either a system like LOCKSS, 
which enables libraries to store a local copy of authorized 
content, or Portico, which stores true source files.

PMC does not begin to tackle the critical issue of digital 
preservation, and it should not be counted on to do so.

Peter Banks
Publisher
American Diabetes Association
Email: pbanks@diabetes.org

>>> matt@biomedcentral.com 02/22/06 3:41 PM >>>

By that logic, should publishers not also boycott the Library of 
Congress - another 'potentially unstable' federal institution?

The fact is, no organization (federal, corporate, or 
not-for-profit) can offer a perfect guarantee of preservation. 
That is all the more reason why a belt-and-braces approach is a 
good idea, and why accusations that PubMed Central constitutes 
'wasteful duplication' are misplaced. PubMed Central has an 
important role to play in digital preservation, but it is 
certainly not an obstacle to other preservation initiatives - in 
fact it facilitates them.

==
Matthew Cockerill, Ph.D.
Publisher
BioMed Central ( http://www.biomedcentral.com/ )
London UK
Email: matt@biomedcentral.com