Re: Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal of ALPSP Critique Sally Morris (ALPSP) 31 Aug 2005 11:10 UTC
And what is wrong with that? Sally Sally Morris, Chief Executive Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK Tel: +44 (0)1903 871 686 Fax: +44 (0)1903 871 457 Email: sally.morris@alpsp.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Christensen" <John_Christensen@BYU.EDU> To: <SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU> Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 8:58 PM Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal of ALPSP Critique > Albert Henderson's own credibility has for years been suspect as he has > worked for organizations in the pocket of the "big money" publishers. > > John O. Christensen > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum > [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Marsha M Aucoin > Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 1:24 PM > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > Subject: [SERIALST] Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal of ALPSP > Critique > > Sent on behalf of Jane Kleiner: > > > > Janellyn P Kleiner > 08/26/2005 02:08 PM > > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > cc: Jennifer Cargill > > Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal > of > ALPSP Critique > > Response to Albert Henderson's comments on the LSU Libraries: > > Chuck Hammaker has already provided an accurate response to Henderson's > attack on the LSU Libraries based on the circumstances at LSU a decade > ago. > As the lead author of the article Chuck cited and Associate Dean of > Libraries, I feel compelled to update that information and offer my own > response. In a nutshell, your information is inaccurate, dated, and a > total misrepresentation of LSU and the Libraries then and now. > > The journal project in the early nineties was a cooperative one, supported > by the University administration with faculty participation. We are an ARL > library and LSU is a Carnegie Research Extensive University. Institutions > are included in those groups based on hard data. In the past decade, > Library support has increased substantially, nearly doubling. Today, we > have more than 30,000 electronic journals, 300+ databases, and over 60,000 > e-books plus more than 3 million volumes. LSU research funding exceeded > $100,000,000 annually several years ago and totaled $132,886,000 in FY05. > This represents substantial improvement for a state university with a > relatively small population. In comparison with most flagship > universities, LSU has fewer faculty, researchers, and students but that > size has not diminished the progress we have made. Our research would not > be growing as the rate it is if 'LSU financed its library appropriately > for a voc-ag or trade school' as you stated in your message. In addition > to > our growing materials budget enriched by annual supplements of one-time > monies, the University allocates a percentage of indirect cost monies to > the Libraries. As LSU's sponsored research programs grow, so does our > funding and this is not the only source of increased funding. Obviously, > we > have a supportive University administration and that support was > recognized in that nineties' article. > > At the time of those cuts more than a decade ago, our strategies to > contain > serial expenditures were commended by more than one accreditation agency. > Many ARL libraries, including at least one Ivy League, looked to us for > assistance in implementing similar programs at their institutions.Our > advice has also been sought internationally. Yes, we canceled numerous > subscriptions but we also added new ones and expanded our electronic > resources and access to other information sources. That article won an > ALA > award that year. Both, Chuck and I have had numerous invitations to speak > at conferences and universities on our project. Obviously, it was an > action > plan that succeeded without alienating faculty or negatively impacting > research and instruction. More insight into how to implement that plan was > sought by other university libraries and other countries. The article was > reprinted in the Chinese equivalent to College and Research Libraries. > That > suggests the project was not the disaster you claim. > > The grants the Libraries were awarded then and since have supported a > statewide academic library network, library resources, and digital > collections. In this area too, our advice has been sought on funding and > building a statewide library network. LSU Libraries took the lead in these > grant funded projects and the benefits to our library and other state > academic institutions have been enormous. The network achieved funding > from > the state legislature when federal funding ended. It has been supported > by > the state for more than a decade funding online library systems and > numerous databases. It covered network costs for a new ILS system, a > federated search package, and a software application that links users > directly to articles cited in their searches. The success of our grants > and > network programs enabled us to free funds to acquire costly electronic > resources not possible a decade ago -- the Web of Knowledge, IEEE Xplore, > SciFinder, JSTOR, ARTStor, and many others. We have not had to make > significant cuts since that time. We continue assessing faculty needs and > ridding the Libraries of titles not used while adding new journal > subscriptions & databases that are in demand. > > There are no truths or facts in your message. I suggest that you refrain > from commenting about our library and university since you have no > connection with either and to my knowledge never have. > > Jane Kleiner > Associate Dean of Libraries for Collection Services > The LSU Libraries > Louisiana State University > Baton Rouge, LA 70803 > Phone: 225-578-2217 > Fax: 225-578-6825 > E-Mail: jkleiner@lsu.edu > ---------------------- Forwarded by Janellyn P Kleiner/jkleiner/LSU on > 08/24/2005 07:56 AM --------------------------- > > > Marsha M Aucoin > 08/24/2005 07:26 AM > > To: Janellyn P Kleiner/jkleiner/LSU@LSU > cc: > > Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal > of > ALPSP Critique > > > > > > > ---------------------- Forwarded by Marsha M Aucoin/maucoi4/LSU on > 08/24/2005 07:26 AM --------------------------- > > > Albert Henderson <chessNIC@COMPUSERVE.COM>@LIST.UVM.EDU> on 08/23/2005 > 07:46:20 PM > > Please respond to "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum" > <SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU> > > Sent by: "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum" > <SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU> > > > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > cc: (bcc: Marsha M Aucoin/maucoi4/LSU) > > Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal > of > ALPSP Critique > > on 23 Aug 2005 "Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@EMAIL.UNCC.EDU> wrote: > >> As usual in mentioning LSU's cancellations Al Henderson mis-represents >> key elements of what was achieved. LSU subscribed to new journal titles >> AND enhanced access to other titles through unmediated document delivery >> as a result of the cancellations. There was little evidence that the >> cancelled titles harmed the collection in any way. > [snip] > > Congratulations to Chuck for making the > best of a miserable, selfish management > policy. > > LSU financed its library appropriately > for a voc-ag or trade school while getting > federal research grants designed to > generate more and more publications. > > Unlike any other research university that I > reviewed, LSU held its library spending at > zero growth, around $3.3 million for years > while its sponsored research grew from $18 > to $68 million. > > Library Federal > Year Materials R&D > ($000,000) ($000,000) > 1983 3.31 18.79 > 1984 2.89 20.82 > 1985 3.13 26.09 > 1986 3.39 27.81 > 1987 3.49 36.50 > 1988 3.37 38.88 > 1989 3.31 39.09 > 1990 3.35 40.89 > 1991 3.30 55.95 > 1992 4.48 49.21 > 1993 3.15 58.20 > 1994 2.98 67.69 > > When I first published these figures > years ago, some assistant-provost-type > claimed my figures were wrong. I sent > my data and never heard another word. > > I certainly would think twice about > sending any serious student or > researcher there. If I were at a federal > science agency I would look closely to > ascertain if collections were up-to-date > and complete, if research proposals were > based on the latest research, and if > research in progress was responsive to > latest developments. > > LSU's financial achievements as a 'research > university'were at the expense of: > > (A) the commons, since its strategy caused > subscription rates paid by other libraries > to rise: > 1. because remaining subscribers > had to share the burden, > > 2. by generating increased numbers > of articles, adding to production. > > (B) serious researchers who were forced to > find articles through secondary publications > rather than browse each incoming issue -- > or to pay for their own subscriptions with > grant monies. > > Thanks for the comment. > > Best wishes, > > Albert Henderson > Former Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1994-2000 > Contributor HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. AN ENCYCLOPEDIA > (ABC-CLIO 2002) > > -----Original Message----- > From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum > [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Albert Henderson > Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 9:08 AM > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > Subject: [SERIALST] Open Letter to Research Councils UK: Rebuttal of > ALPSP Critique > > Dear Serialst > > While sharing a vision of open access to information by > researchers at no cost beyond belonging to a library, I > believe that the behavior of university budget managers > over the last 50 years contradicts the following claim: > >> The disastrous scenario predicted by ALPSP is that an RCUK mandate > would cause >> libraries to cancel subscriptions, which would in turn lead to the > financial failure >> of scholarly journals, and so to the collapse of the quality control > and peer review >> process that publishers manage. >> >> Not only are these claims unsubstantiated, but all the evidence to > date >> shows the reverse to be true: not only do journals thrive and co-exist > alongside >> author self-archiving, but they can actually benefit from it -- both > in terms of >> more citations and more subscriptions. > > The fact is that the four percent of academic libraries > that control 40% of spending provide an economic base > for the scientific record. > > As soon as plain paper photocopies became available and > interlibrary borrowing became legal substitutes for > paid subscriptions, these major research universities > cut their library spending, systematically whittling it > by more than half. One engineering school, Stevens > Institute, bragged it had cut all subscriptions, intending > to exist on loans. LSU turned down the same path. Not only > have subscriptions been decimated, the viability of the > scholarly monograph has been called into question. Perhaps > the worst insult to libraries was the closing of its > historic school of library science by Columbia University, > on grounds of poor profitability. > > The claim of finance managers to have no money is simply > bogus in very many cases. As a matter of public record, > the profitability of all higher education institutions > increased by roughly the same percentage as they saved > by cuts to library spending, as reported to the US > Department of Education (see upcoming AGAINST THE GRAIN). > > Albert Henderson > > Former Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1994-2000 > Contributor HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. AN ENCYCLOPEDIA > (ABC-CLIO 2002) > <70244.1532@compuserve.com> > > > More reading: > > Henderson, Albert. 1999. Information science and information policy. > The use of constant dollars and other indicators to manage research > investments. Journal of the American Society for Information Science. > 50,4:366-379. > Online PDF version > http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext?ID=55001184&PLACEBO= > IE.pdf > DOI 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:4<366::AID-ASI15>3.0.CO;2-3 > > Day, Colin. 1999. The economics of publishing: the consequences > of library and research copying. Journal of the American Society > for Information Science. 50(14):1346-1349. > > > > > > > > > > . > . > . > . > > ______________________________________________________________________ > This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. > For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email > ______________________________________________________________________