[moi] [2b2k] Interview on universities and open access
I was honored a few weeks ago to be the special guest and keynoter of Oklahoma State University’s Research Week. Here’s an interview with OSU Prof. Bill Handy. [LATER that morning: Here's a page where OSU students are commenting on it.]
[NEXT DAY:] Several open access advocates are annoyed with me because I seem to imply, against my better knowledge, that open access journals are not peer reviewed. I do know better and almost always make that point when talking about open access. More important is the point itself: Many open access journals (e.g., PLOS.org) are indeed peer-reviewed.
I do have to point out for the record, however, that (despite the title of screen of this interview) I am not a professor at Harvard or anywhere. (I’m open to offers though.) I am a senior researcher at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. That is not a faculty position, and does not carry either the obligations or the prestige of one.
(Also, the overly-attentive reader will have noticed that I have switched from the [ahole] preface to [moi]. I introduced the former this year as part of my resolution to be a bigger ahole about blogging interviews I’ve done. But, I found myself blogging interviews I’ve done with other people under titles such as “[ahole] Interview of Mary Jones,” implying that Mary Jones is the ahole. So, from now on, it’s [moi].”
David, I posted a link to the video on Friendfeed, where it has started a discussion you may like to respond to: http://friendfeed.com/future-of-education/eecb71a5/david-weinberger-on-remnant-notions-and
Thanks for the quick response on friendfeed David. Any chance of redressing the balance? :-)
What do you have in mind, AJ?
(To people who aren’t AJ: In the clip, I talk about open access as an alternative to peer review, which was not my intent. I intended it to be an alternative to publishing in established, high-prestige, peer-reviewed journals, but the clear implication (unintended) is that open access = not peer reviewed.)
A post on this blog clarifying the point would be great.
Well, it’s in the comments now. I’ll continue to make the point when I talk about open access. (As in. Everything Is Misc, p. 103: PLOS, “a peer-reviewed but free online resource”)
Thanks for making the point you made on Friendfeed – OA does not mean sidestepping peer review and that editing of the video may have changed your meaning?
Yes, the peer-review is not an alternative to open access and I did not have impression that you set them against each other.
The current state of access to scientific research results is horrible. Science, which was always ahead of humanity, becomes slowly behind for one simple thing – the majority of scientific articles and dissertations are not accessible on the net freely.
If that trend does not change soon, I predict a very fast decline in that trailblazing role science hold for centuries.
It is as you described – most of papers go to heavily copyrighted papers with about 1 year publication circle, that only an elite can access….
I once attended a panel “Science 2.0” and was shocked by no sign of change from giants like Elsevier supported blankly by some scientists. Elsevier published almost 2400 journals, yet no one is freely browsable, searchable, aggregatable etc…
I’m happy there are such initiatives like PLOS, but it is not enough. Unfortunately, without governments’ founds, it will be hard to change the situation.
I find this very problem as one of the most important obstacle to the rapid progress of science ….
Joho the Blog » [moi] [2b2k] Interview on universities and open access…
Joho the Blog » [moi] [2b2k] Interview on universities and open access…
Joho the Blog » [moi] [2b2k] Interview on universities and open access…
Joho the Blog » [moi] [2b2k] Interview on universities and open access…
[...] David Weinberger hat im Rahmen eines Besuchs der Oklahoma State University’s Research Week dieses Interview gegeben, in dem er sehr schön und treffend als “Internet Guru” vorgestellt wird. “Guru” Weinberger macht dabei am Beispiel “Open Access” deutlich, wie schwer sich Universitäten heute noch mit der Tatsache tun, dass das “intellectual and academic life is moving onto the Internet”. David Weinberger, Joho the Blog, 7. März 2010 [...]