RE: Thatcher vs. Harnad

["Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu>]

> As I have
> remarked before on this list (though I misspelled it), open
> access is a fait accompli.  Arguments in favor of it, however
> false, misleading, or intellectually dishonest, carry the day
> with the proven strategy of saying the same thing over and over
> in a louder and louder voice.

I think it's important to acknowledge that arguments in favor of 
OA are not necessarily false, misleading, or intellectually 
dishonest.  Some are, and we've seen our share of those on this 
list.  But it would be just as wrongheaded to present OA as an 
unalloyed evil as it is to present it as a simple, self-evident 
good.  The facts are that (pax Harnad) multiple models of OA 
really do exist, and (pax Harnad) what Harnad is promoting is one 
particular model, and different OA models offer different 
balances of cost and benefit.  If we let ourselves think of OA as 
a monolithic concept that is Simply Bad, then all we're doing is 
promoting a mirror image of the Harnadian evangelism, and I'm not 
sure that's an approach that will lead to sound policy or 
practice.

> OA may be a huge policy error, but it has happened, and we
> would compound the error if we did not attempt to clean our
> nest now that it has been fouled.

It's also important to recognize that OA has not simply 
"happened." Some kinds of OA are happening (with results both 
good and bad), but mandates, for example, have not happened 
(yet).  I'm convinced that it's important to fight against legal 
mandates in most cases, and it's much too soon to roll over and 
accept them as inevitable.  If the nest is foul, let's focus on 
the specific ways in which it's been fouled and work on cleaning 
it up -- but that important work shouldn't keep us from 
continuing to try to influence the ongoing policy debate.

Trying not to sound too earnest and wide-eyed here, but it sounds 
like Joe needs a pep talk... :-)

---
Rick Anderson
Dir. of Resource Acquisition
University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
(775) 682-5664
rickand@unr.edu