AAAS and JSTOR issues

[dcarlson@lib.siu.edu]

It does not seem to have garnered much listserv attention, but I 
think most liblicense readers are aware of the AAAS decision to 
withdraw its premier publication, Science magazine, from JSTOR. I 
was very disappointed with this decision. I recently sent a 
letter to the chair of AAAS, John Holdren, expressing my concerns 
and my hope that AAAS would reconsider its decision. A copy of my 
letter is below in plain and simple (but easily exchanged) ASCII 
text.

My letter was sent in late August and I have not yet rec'd a 
response; I don't know if I will.

I would hope that some of you agree with my comments and would 
find the time to express your concerns to AAAS as well. If any of 
my language or arguments are useful to you, you are more than 
welcome to edit or borrow liberally and without attribution.

-- David Carlson, Dean
Library Affairs
SIU Carbondale

---------- text of letter ------------

August 28, 2007

Dr. John Holdren, Chair
Board of Directors
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 53
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-5801

Dear Dr. Holdren:

In your role as Chair of the Board of Directors for the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), I am writing 
to express my disappointment and disagreement over the recent 
decision of AAAS to ends it participation in JSTOR with Science. 
It is a mistaken and regrettable decision that, in my judgment, 
is counter to the mission and values of AAAS. I urge the Board to 
conduct some additional review and reconsider the decision. Most 
of my analysis and comments in this letter are based on the AAAS 
announcement of the decision.  The announcement contains the only 
access I have to explanation and rationale.

The announcement states that AAAS "conducted a series of 
comprehensive consultations with our customers and readers around 
the world." Is there a report on the outcome of these 
consultations? Based on my experience, I am very hard pressed to 
believe that your "customers and readers" indicated 
dissatisfaction with JSTOR and your participation in it. I have 
met researchers who have been unfamiliar with JSTOR, but I have 
never met a researcher who had used JSTOR and was anything but 
effusive in their regard and praise for it.

As Dean, when I talk with teaching faculty and researchers, it is 
striking to me how many faculty specifically mention their joy in 
using JSTOR and what an asset it is to them in their research. 
They identify JSTOR's inter-disciplinary research, deep and 
continuous backfile coverage, vetted resources of academic 
quality, and integrity of digital representation as special 
qualities. Faculty have a number of concerns about the use of 
electronic resources, such as generally accessible web sites, 
aggregator databases and other resources, but I have found them 
united in their opinion on the extraordinary and unique value of 
JSTOR. Can you provide me with more information about the 
consultations you conducted and the nature of concerns that were 
revealed?

Your news release states that a major element of your decision is 
based on your concern to control your content in the context of a 
rapidly changing "business environment". I agree: AAAS needs to 
run an effective and even profitable business operation. I also 
agree with your identification of the challenges of a business 
environment "in a constant state of transition [with] dramatic 
technological and competitive changes." In my judgment, this is 
an argument for continuing and, indeed, furthering your 
partnership with JSTOR. As an organization that is barely ten 
years old, JSTOR was born in this environment. In this brief 
period of rapid change and transition, JSTOR has become a 
singular success in the academic/research community. I cannot 
think of a better, more appropriate partnership than JSTOR for 
AAAS to manage the challenges of these "dramatic technological 
and competitive changes."

Your emphasis on content control for this decision is not just 
the wrong emphasis -- it is in opposition to the mission and 
values of AAAS. When I connect to the AAAS web site, I find a 
summation of what AAAS stands for: advancing science, serving 
society. On the web site, this phrase is in a prominent position, 
upper left corner, immediately beneath the AAAS logo. It is so 
important that I failed to find an AAAS web page in which the 
phrase and logo were not included. The decision to withdraw from 
JSTOR is not in the interests of science nor society. Indeed, 
JSTOR has been an effective vehicle by which science and the AAAS 
mission of service to society has been advanced.

This justification of content control puzzles me further because 
your participation in JSTOR is no abdication of control. JSTOR 
does not control the content and there is no loss of control by 
your participation.

As partial justification of your decision, your announcement 
talks about the responsibility to "maintain a complete electronic 
archive and to fully integrate that historical content with our 
very latest published materials." The content of Science, past 
and current, is a tremendous value and resource. However, this 
focus on your content and integration is misguided. The 
single-minded approach eliminates the inestimable value that 
occurs when Science is integrated and combined with the knowledge 
and insights of other disciplines and scholarly inquiry. JSTOR 
provides AAAS with a responsible and controlled means of 
extending the reach of your content into disciplines that might 
not encounter it otherwise. With this decision, you lose this 
unique and powerful tool of integration which JSTOR so elegantly 
and effectively provides. Moreover, you could integrate your 
current content with historical content and still maintain your 
participation in JSTOR. I am confident that JSTOR would be very 
interested to work with you on closer integration with their 
database and your other content. Did you explore such 
possibilities with them?

JSTOR and Science are both strategic resources of great value to 
the academic/research community. JSTOR has achieved this status 
in a little more than a decade in an environment of technological 
and competitive change. Science has achieved its strategic value 
differently based on its commitment to science, exceptional 
content, and long history. When these two vital organizations 
cooperate in their assets and services, the combination is 
powerful. The participation of Science made a unique and 
irreplaceable contribution to the resources and 
cross-disciplinary value of JSTOR. Your decision to withdraw has 
diminished the contribution of Science to society, the academy, 
and the community of scholars; tragically, it has also diminished 
the value of JSTOR. I have every confidence that JSTOR's success 
will continue and the organization will thrive but the removal of 
participation by Science is nonetheless a strategic loss which 
hurts both organizations.

The AAAS decision to end the participation of Science in JSTOR is 
in contradiction with your mission and values: to advance science 
and serve society. Moreover, I believe that the reasons given for 
the decision can be effectively achieved through your 
continuation with JSTOR. I hope you and the AAAS Board reconsider 
the withdrawal decision.

Please consider this an open letter to you about my concerns. I 
am not anxious for our discussion of these important issues to be 
a public matter. I am much more interested in a sincere 
reconsideration of your decision than a vitriolic public debate. 
At the same time, your decision and announcement are public 
matters, AAAS is a membership organization, and I believe there 
are many individuals who would be concerned about the 
perspectives I have suggested in this letter. Beyond those 
selected individuals copied below, I want you to be aware that I 
may be distributing this letter to other individuals and groups 
with similar concerns.

Sincerely,


David Carlson, Dean
Library Affairs

cc:     Dr. John Koropchak, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate
	Dean, SIU Carbondale
        Dr. Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, AAAS
        Dr. Jay C. Means, Dean, College of Science, SIU Carbondale