David, Ken and All - I have introduced this notion in a couple of other venues and perhaps the time is right to do it here. Open Access is seen somewhat a thorn in is side of the status quo except what we see as the said quo today is not as it always has been. There was a time when Science in all its iterations was practiced for the sake of Science, when people on the streets would hear the sound of 'Eureka' shouted from the window of a dingy cell in a musty pile and another discovery born. It has only been since the notion of profit was introduced to the whole area of the dissemination of knowledge has the issue of paying to read about the discoveries, in many cases the public has payed to create, has the issue of how it is paid for become an issue.
May I suggest a paradigm in which all information is made available freely online, and if a hard copy is require that a Print On Demand, pay per page regime be established. We are looking at just such a strategy at Camp One for use in our outreach. Our situation is unique in that access to printed copy will be funded to 100% internally, but we are looking at a system which can produce in colour at high speed with a net cost of $0.03/Page which if we were to double that figure would provide funding for a compensation pool.
I think the major issue for expanding this scenario is that it goes against the status quo which has yet to understand that technology is close to supplanting its perception of worth. The argument that Open Access will reduce the quality of material given the nature of Peer Review in conventional journals is a specious one. Both PloS and arXix have proven that.
We have a unique situation in that the whole focus of what we do is content oriented, which is derived to a high degree from Open Access. The infrastructure is simply the means, and when we encounter a goal that can't be achieved with what we have in place, we get more. It would be my hope that we will one day return to a Science for the sake of Science model, without the mold of course.
Note to 'colecamplese' - I suggest that at Penn State as at many other institutions, the Arlo Guthrie, 'Alices' Restaurant' ethic applies - If they discount your first proposition as the words of a crazy person, what will they do when the whole movement comes through the door? Lead, Follow, or Get out if the way.
Change It Comes
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