Re: Open Choice is a Trojan Horse for Open Access Mandates

[Sandy Thatcher <sgt3@psu.edu>]

Yes, it is true that "if and when institutions ever 'do' cancel 
subscriptions, that money will then be freed to pay for Gold OA 
costs." What still remains "speculative," however, is whether 
that is the actual use to which that "freed" money will be put.

University presses have long harbored the hope that "if and when" 
this scenario unfolds, the "freed" money will once again be 
devoted to purchasing monographs, whose sales have suffered 
mightily ever since the STM crisis began way back in the late 
1960s. But every librarian I have asked about this replies "ain't 
gonna happen." There are plenty of other needs that libraries 
have to which "freed" money can be devoted-digitization projects, 
archiving, licensing other electronic resources, etc. If they are 
reluctant to spend it on such a central resource as monographs, 
then what chance is there that they are likely to start 
subsidizing faculty who want to publish in Gold OA journals?

Would librarians on this list care to comment?

Sandy Thatcher
Director, Penn State Press


> Whether and when institutions will cancel subscriptions because 
> of mandated Green OA is a purely speculative matter, today. What 
> is not speculative is that if and when institutions ever *do* 
> cancel subscriptions, that money will then be freed to pay for 
> Gold OA costs; not before.
>
> Stevan Harnad