<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Paul's comments are spot on. This is one of the powers of a distributed system - nobody can buy it outright.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">One has to wonder what are the motives, when people talk about ONE system to do things or to begin a consolidation of concerns??</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">In the ideal world there are many distributed IR's that are harvetsed by central harveters such as SHARE in the USA.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">See: <a href="http://www.share-research.org">http://www.share-research.org</a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><b><font face="monospace, monospace">Hilton Gibson</font></b></div><div><span style="font-family:monospace,monospace;font-size:12.8px">Stellenbosch University Library</span><br></div><div><font face="monospace, monospace"><font color="#0000ee"><u><a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2992-208X" target="_blank">http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2992-208X</a></u></font><br></font></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Paul Walk</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:paul.walk@bath.edu">paul.walk@bath.edu</a>></span><br>Date: 18 May 2016 at 10:53<br>Subject: Re: [GOAL] SSRN Sellout to Elsevier<br>To: "Global Open Access List (Successor of AmSci)" <<a href="mailto:goal@eprints.org">goal@eprints.org</a>><br><br><br>"The software may change, but you can't sell off a distributed network of independent repositories.”<br>
<br>
I agree, and I think that this is the crucial point. The software doesn’t matter (well, it does matter, but it doesn’t affect this principle). It’s about the distribution of *control*.<br>
<br>
We are truly fortunate to have a global, distributed infrastructure of institutional repositories which are (mostly) under institutional control. This is quite an unusual arrangement these days - and I think we should regard it as precious and inherently powerful in its denial of the possibility of “ownership” by one party.<br>
<br>
We should do what we can to both hang on to this infrastructure, and to exploit it more fully, in pursuit of a better scholarly communications system.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
> On 17 May 2016, at 22:06, Leslie Carr <<a href="mailto:lac@ecs.soton.ac.uk">lac@ecs.soton.ac.uk</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> The software may change, but you can't sell off a distributed network of independent repositories.<br>
><br>
> Prof Leslie Carr<br>
> Web Science institute<br>
> #⃣ webscience #⃣ openaccess<br>
><br>
> On 17 May 2016, at 21:35, Joachim SCHOPFEL <<a href="mailto:joachim.schopfel@univ-lille3.fr">joachim.schopfel@univ-lille3.fr</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:joachim.schopfel@univ-lille3.fr">joachim.schopfel@univ-lille3.fr</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> Uh - "the distributed network of Green institutional repositories worldwide is not for sale"? Not so sure - the green institutional repositories can be replaced by other solutions, can't they ? Better solutions, more functionalities, more added value, more efficient, better connected to databases and gold/hybrid journals etc.<br>
><br>
> ----- Mail d'origine -----<br>
> De: Stevan Harnad <<a href="mailto:amsciforum@gmail.com">amsciforum@gmail.com</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:amsciforum@gmail.com">amsciforum@gmail.com</a>>><br>
> À: Global Open Access List (Successor of AmSci) <<a href="mailto:goal@eprints.org">goal@eprints.org</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:goal@eprints.org">goal@eprints.org</a>>><br>
> Envoyé: Tue, 17 May 2016 17:03:18 +0200 (CEST)<br>
> Objet: Re: [GOAL] SSRN Sellout to Elsevier<br>
><br>
> Shame on SSRN.<br>
><br>
> Of course we know exactly why Elsevier acquired SSRN (and Mendeley):<br>
><br>
> It's to retain their stranglehold over a domain (peer-reviewed scholarly/scientific research publishing) in which they are no longer needed, and in which they would not even have been able to gain as much as a foothold if it had been born digital, instead of being inherited as a legacy from an obsolete Gutenberg era.<br>
><br>
> I don't know about Arxiv (needless centralization and its concentrated expenses are always vulnerabe to faux-benign take-overs) but what's sure is that the distributed network of Green institutional repositories worldwide is not for sale, and that is their strength...<br>
><br>
> Stevan Harnad<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 8:03 AM, Bo-Christer Björk <<a href="mailto:bo-Christer.bjork@hanken.fi">bo-Christer.bjork@hanken.fi</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:bo-Christer.bjork@hanken.fi">bo-Christer.bjork@hanken.fi</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> This is an interesting news item which should interest the<br>
> readers of this list. Let's hope arXiv is not for sale.<br>
><br>
> Bo-Christer Björk<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------<br>
> Subject:<br>
> Message from Mike Jensen, SSRN Chairman<br>
> Date: Tue, 17 May 2016 07:40:29 -0400 (EDT)<br>
> From: Michael C. Jensen <<a href="mailto:admin@ssrn.com">admin@ssrn.com</a>><mailto:<a href="mailto:admin@ssrn.com">admin@ssrn.com</a>><br>
> Reply-To:<br>
> <a href="mailto:support@ssrn.com">support@ssrn.com</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:support@ssrn.com">support@ssrn.com</a>><br>
> To: <a href="mailto:bo-christer.bjork@hanken.fi">bo-christer.bjork@hanken.fi</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:bo-christer.bjork@hanken.fi">bo-christer.bjork@hanken.fi</a>><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> [<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/Organizations/images/ihp_ssrnlogo.png" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://papers.ssrn.com/Organizations/images/ihp_ssrnlogo.png</a>]<<a href="http://hq.ssrn.com/GroupProcesses/RedirectClick.cfm?partid=2338421&corid=4024&runid=15740&url=http://www.ssrn.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://hq.ssrn.com/GroupProcesses/RedirectClick.cfm?partid=2338421&corid=4024&runid=15740&url=http://www.ssrn.com</a>> [<a href="http://static.ssrn.com/Images/Header/socialnew.gif" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://static.ssrn.com/Images/Header/socialnew.gif</a>]<br>
><br>
><br>
> Dear SSRN Authors,<br>
><br>
><br>
> SSRN announced today that it has changed ownership. SSRN is<br>
> joining Mendeley<<a href="https://www.mendeley.com/?signout" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mendeley.com/?signout</a>> and Elsevier<<a href="https://www.elsevier.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.elsevier.com</a>><br>
> to coordinate our development and delivery of new products and<br>
> services, and we look forward to our new access to data, products,<br>
> and additional resources that this change facilitates. (See Gregg<br>
> Gordon’s Elsevier<br>
> Connect<<a href="https://www.elsevier.com/connect/ssrn-the-leading-social-science-and-humanities-repository-and-online-community-joins-elsevier" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.elsevier.com/connect/ssrn-the-leading-social-science-and-humanities-repository-and-online-community-joins-elsevier</a>> post)<br>
><br>
><br>
> Like SSRN, Mendeley and Elsevier are focused on creating tools<br>
> that enhance researcher workflow and productivity. SSRN has been<br>
> at the forefront of on-line sharing of working papers. We are<br>
> committed to continue our innovation and this change will enable<br>
> that to happen more quickly. SSRN will benefit from access to the<br>
> vast new data and resources available, including Mendeley’s<br>
> reference management and personal library management tools, their<br>
> new researcher profile capabilities, and social networking<br>
> features. Importantly, we will also have new access for SSRN<br>
> members to authoritative performance measurement tools such as<br>
> those powered by Scopus<<a href="https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus</a>> and<br>
> Newsflo<<a href="http://hq.ssrn.com/GroupProcesses/RedirectClick.cfm?partid=2338421&corid=4024&runid=15740&url=http://www.newsflo.net" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://hq.ssrn.com/GroupProcesses/RedirectClick.cfm?partid=2338421&corid=4024&runid=15740&url=http://www.newsflo.net</a>><br>
> (a global media tracking tool). In addition, SSRN, Mendeley and<br>
> Elsevier together can cooperatively build bridges to close the<br>
> divide between the previously separate worlds and workflows of<br>
> working papers and published papers.<br>
><br>
><br>
> We realize that this change may create some concerns about the<br>
> intentions of a legacy publisher acquiring an open-access working<br>
> paper repository. I shared this concern. But after much discussion<br>
> about this matter and others in determining if Mendeley and<br>
> Elsevier would be a good home for SSRN, I am convinced that they<br>
> would be good stewards of our mission. And our copyright policies<br>
> are not in conflict -- our policy has always been to host only<br>
> papers that do not infringe on copyrights. I expect we will have<br>
> some conflicts as we align our interests, but I believe those will<br>
> be surmountable.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Until recently I was convinced that the SSRN community was best<br>
> served being a stand-alone entity. But in evaluating our future in<br>
> the evolving landscape, I came to believe that SSRN would benefit<br>
> from being more interconnected and with the resources available<br>
> from a larger organization. For example, there is scale in systems<br>
> administration and security, and SSRN can provide more value to<br>
> users with access to more data and resources.<br>
><br>
><br>
> On a personal note, it has been an honor to be involved over the<br>
> past 25 years in the founding and growth of the SSRN website and<br>
> the incredible community of authors, researchers and institutions<br>
> that has made this all possible. I consider it one of my great<br>
> accomplishments in life. The community would not have been<br>
> successful without the commitment of so many of you who have<br>
> contributed in so many ways. I am proud of the community we have<br>
> created, and I invite you to continue your involvement and support<br>
> in this effort.<br>
><br>
><br>
> The staff at SSRN are all staying (including Gregg Gordon, CEO and<br>
> myself), the Rochester office is still in place, it will still be<br>
> free to upload and download papers, and we remain committed to<br>
> “Tomorrow’s Research Today”. I look forward to and am committed to<br>
> a successful transition and to another great 25 years for the SSRN<br>
> community that rivals the first.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Michael C. Jensen<br>
><br>
> Founder & Chairman, SSRN<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> ________________________________<br>
><br>
> Search<br>
> the SSRN eLibrary<<a href="http://hq.ssrn.com/GroupProcesses/RedirectClick.cfm?partid=2338421&corid=4024&runid=15740&url=http://papers.ssrn.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://hq.ssrn.com/GroupProcesses/RedirectClick.cfm?partid=2338421&corid=4024&runid=15740&url=http://papers.ssrn.com/</a>> | Browse<br>
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><br>
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