Original post:
CDL: Knowledge Unlatched question
From: Mary Hollerich<mary.hollerich_at_gmail.com>
Has anyone else on this list been approached about joining Knowledge Unlatched and,
if so, what do you think of it? What factors will influence your decision to join or
not join? I wonder about the program's scalability but am intrigued by it.
Mary
---
Mary A. Hollerich
Editor, Interlending & Document Supply
Asst. Dean for Scholarly Resources and Research Services
Central University Libraries
Southern Methodist University
P.O. Box 750135
Dallas, TX 75275-0135
214-768-4960
mary.hollerich_at_gmail.com
=======
#1
From:
"Swindler, Luke" <luke_swindler_at_unc.edu>
At UNC Chapel Hill we have discussed /Knowledge Unlatched/ as an open
access model for covering publication costs of e-books that is most akin
to /SCOAP3/ as another example of libraries collectively covering the
publisher costs of e-journals. (For those of you who are not familiar
with /SCOAP3/ [Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in
Particle Physics], it is a pilot that re-directs library collections
funds to cover the publisher costs of producing a sub-set of high energy
physics journals so that they can be converted to open access and
thereby become freely available to all. For more information, go to its
website at http://scoap3.org/index.html <x-msg://73/%22>.)
For a library that would be buying most of the monographs in /Knowledge
Unlatched/, the costs of participating would be minimal and could even
be less than would be spent to purchase these e-books from the
publishers. On the other hand, at UNC we are concerned about the access
platform and whether/if these books will continue to remain available as
open access resources in perpetuity.
More broadly, in my view the basic requirements for an open access model
to succeed and become pervasive must include:
* .Effective and sustainable business model;
* .Efficient process; and
* .Scalability.
Insofar as I understand the available options, only Green Open
Access---author self-archiving---meets all three of these criteria---and
it does so only because organizations finance institutional repositories
that host this content. While UNC is participating in /SCOAP3/ and may
also participate in /Knowledge Unlatched/, the former definitely does
not meet these three criteria while the latter's ability to do remains
to be determined.
Luke Swindler
*****************************************************************************
Luke Swindler Collections Management Officer
Davis Library CB #3918 luke_swindler_at_unc.edu
<mailto:luke_swindler_at_unc.edu>
University of North Carolina TEL (919-962-1095)
=======
#2
From:
Tracie Ballock <ballockt_at_duq.edu>
Hi Mary, Here is some information that I just received regarding
Knowledge Unlached. Hope this helps.
Knowledge Unlatched (KU), an open access initiative for scholarly
monographs, has recently launched its pilot project using a model that
has the potential to transform access to knowledge and ideas contained
in book-length publications. This global initiative places libraries at
the center of the shift to open access. 13 publishers have placed 28
titles in the KU pilot project collection. If at least 200 libraries
worldwide pledge $1,680 (US) in supporting funds to Knowledge Unlatched
by January 31, 2014, then these 28 titles will become openly accessible
and the publishers will have recovered their costs to produce these
titles. If more than 200 libraries pledge support, then the cost for all
participants will decrease.
The KU pilot project goals include: 1. Showing that scholarly publishers
will make front-list titles available in open access for a fee paid by a
community of libraries that covers the cost of producing the title. 2.
Showing that publishers will work with a coordinating organization (KU)
to ensure that additional purchases (print or online) by libraries of
the KU titles are credited as financial contributions towards making
these open access books available. 3. Showing that it is possible for
libraries to share the costs of making books available on open access
licenses through global collaboration. 4. Developing a deeper
understanding of the barriers for publishers and libraries to
coordinated approaches to funding open access books.
Tracie J. Ballock, MLS Head of Collection Management Duquesne University
Gumberg Library 600 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15282 412-396-4560 /
Fax 412-396-5639
======
#3
From:
Thomas Izbicki <tizbicki_at_rci.rutgers.edu>
Mary,
I had a meeting with them at an ALA meeting, but we were not in a
position to experiment with the concept.
Tom Izbicki
Rutgers
Received on Fri Dec 06 2013 - 03:03:58 EST