Re: ACS meeting comments on e-prints

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_coglit.ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 15:30:11 +0100

On Tue, 4 Apr 2000, Albert Henderson wrote:

> Floyd E Bloom quoted a Senate advisory panel's
> observation from 40 years ago: "The case for a
> Government-operated, highly centralized type of
> center can be no better defended for scientific
> information services than it could be for
> automobile agencies, delicatessens, or barber
> shops." (Science 285:197 1999)

And Floyd Bloom (and Albert Henderson, who apparently like to quote
one another) have been answered, both in this Forum, and in print:

    Henderson/Bloom/Henderson:
    "It may be instructive to recall an earlier congressional
    reaction, as Albert Henderson, editor of Publishing Research
    Quarterly did in his response to E-biomed on 6 May. In the
    Sputnik aftermath, an E-biomed-like proposal was made that
    Congress accelerate U.S. scientific research by establishing a
    unified information system similar to what had been created in
    the Soviet Union. The Senate's advisory panel responded: "The
    case for a Government-operated, highly centralized type of center
    can be no better defended for scientific information services
    than it could be for automobile agencies, delicatessens, or
    barber shops." Surely other creative solutions can be found to
    what NIH considers problems. Are they prepared to listen, or is
    this a done deal?

Reply:
"Both Dr. Henderson and Dr. Bloom might benefit from being reminded...
that unlike the producers of cars, bagels and haircuts, the producers
of refereed journal articles wish to give them away for free. And there
is no earthly reason why any government should not wish to help them do
so, to the eternal benefit of science and society worldwide."

Harnad, S. (2000) E-Knowledge: Freeing the Refereed Journal Corpus Online. Computer Law &
Security Report 16(2) 78-87. [Rebuttal to Bloom Editorial in Science and Relman Editorial in New
England Journal of Medicine]
http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad00.scinejm.htm
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/eletters/285/5425/197#EL12
http://www.nih.gov/about/director/ebiomed/com0801.htm
http://www.nih.gov/about/director/ebiomed/com0725.htm

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Stevan Harnad harnad_at_cogsci.soton.ac.uk
Professor of Cognitive Science harnad_at_princeton.edu
Department of Electronics and phone: +44 23-80 592-582
             Computer Science fax: +44 23-80 592-865
University of Southampton http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/
Highfield, Southampton http://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/
SO17 1BJ UNITED KINGDOM
Received on Mon Jan 24 2000 - 19:17:43 GMT

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