Re: Will open access open doors to new donors?

[Sandy Thatcher <sgt3@psu.edu>]

>>The private sector will benefit from open access.  This is fair 
>>and appropriate.  As taxpayers, businesses have funded much of 
>>the research reported in the literature directly through public 
>>grants, or indirectly through support to public universities.

Heather, do you have any figures to back up these claims? I 
recall often reading that some large corporations manage to get 
so many tax write-offs that they end up paying very little into 
the public coffers. And what about companies that use off-shore 
sites as tax havens? Open access is non-discriminatory and 
benefits all alike, including the many free riders on the system 
now and all the sleaze-bags of the world. Somehow, with its 
obscene profits that companies like Exxon are now realizing, I 
can't get all excited about providing them with more free 
materials from academe. At penn State we have seen state support 
decline every year of the 20 years I've been here, so that it now 
constitutes less than 10% of the university's total budget. So, 
how much does 10% entitle taxpayers to get: 100%? And just how is 
that "fair"?

>>Open access means expanded access to the research literature 
>>for the private sector.  This increases the possibilities for 
>>knowledge transfer and innovation.  When businesses have the 
>>means to develop new products and services based on the best 
>>available evidence, we all stand to benefit.  For example, if 
>>entrepreneurs have access to the very latest in environmental 
>>and engineering research, they are in a much better position to 
>>develop the environmentally friendly business and business 
>>practices, benefitting the whole planet. Products and services 
>>can be developed to the very best of our understanding about 
>>the real needs of individuals and communities.

Of course, this also means that the costs for for-profit 
universities like Phoenix will drop substantially. How do 
non-profit universities feel about subsidizing their competitors?

>>For universities and their libraries, is the institutional 
>>repository and the library publishing program a new avenue for 
>>discussion with potential donors?  Many a donor in the past has 
>>seen the value of the university library, and contributed in a 
>>substantial way to collections and building.  Library open 
>>access initiatives not only greatly expand on the traditional 
>>public benefits of the university library, they also directly 
>>benefit the donor as well.

An interesting thought, but my guess is that it will be a hard 
sell for development staff at libraries to persuade donors to 
contribute to something as abstract as open access. Are there 
development people on this list who can comment?

>>Open Access is not only an unprecedented public good - it is 
>>good for business, too! 
>>http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com/2005/09/open-access-good-for-business.html
>>
>>Any opinion expressed in this e-mail is that of the author alone,
>>and does not represent the opinion or policy of BC Electronic
>>Library Network or Simon Fraser University Library.
>>
>>Heather Morrison, MLIS
>>The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics
>>http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com

Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press