Can I point out (as the code monkey for the Depot) that its not actually
going "live" until June, and the deposit service that is available
through Repository Junction is a testers environment... and the new
version is somewhat different...
I shall leave the project managers to comment on your suggestions,
however I should be at the launch if you want to buy me a drink :chuckle:
Stevan Harnad wrote:
> *** EPrints technical list - http://software.eprints.org/tech.php/
> *** EPrints community wiki - http://wiki.eprints.org/
>
> ** Cross-Posted **
>
> EDINA, SHERPA and JISC have just announced DEPOT which looks as if it
> will be a superb service, and a model for all countries worldwide that
> wish to provide Open Access to their research output.
>
> http://depot.edina.ac.uk/
> http://depot.edina.ac.uk/FAQ/
> http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2007/04/news_depot.aspx
>
> DEPOT is many things, but chiefly a mediator for Institutional
> Repositories (IRs):
>
> (a) If your institution already has an IR, Depot will redirect your
> deposit there, while also registering it and tracking it centrally, to
> make sure the deposit is picked up by the major search engines.
>
> (b) If your institution does not yet have an IR, you can deposit
> directly in Depot and Depot will provide access to your deposit until
> your institution has an IR, at which point it will transfer your deposit
> to your IR.
>
> I have mostly only congratulations for the designers and implementers of
> Depot. It is the optimal synthesis: It emphasises the author's own IR as
> the canonical locus for OA content. It monitors and integrates all of
> the UK's IRs. And it provides a provisional locus for any researcher
> whose institution does not yet have an IR (or for researchers who are
> not affiliated with an institution).
>
> I do have two important suggestions, however:
>
> (1) Currently, Depot states that only postprints can be deposited.
>
> (The postprint is either the author's peer-reviewed final draft,
> accepted for publication, or the published PDF itself.)
>
> (2) Depot also states that the deposit depends on the policy of the
> publisher (and it does not state *when* deposit should be done).
>
> (The depositor is instead referred to the Romeo directory of publisher
> policies on author self-archiving).
>
> I strongly suggest two small but crucial changes in connection with
> these two points:
>
> (1') Do not restrict the deposit to postprints. Include
> preprints too.
>
> (Preprints are pre-peer-review versions of articles that are to be
> submitted for peer-reviewed publication.)
>
> (2') Make it clear that the deposit of the postprint should be done
> as soon as the article is accepted for publication (and the preprint
> even earlier, to be followed by the postprint as soon as it exists)
> -- and, most important of all, make it clear that the deposit itself
> does *not* depend on publisher policy: only the *access-setting* does.
>
> The postprints of articles for which the publisher has not yet endorsed
> self-archiving can all still be deposited immediately upon acceptance
> for publication, but the deposit can be provisionally set as Closed
> Access, instead of Open Access, with only the metadata accessible to
> all.
>
> Depot's FAQ is not quite clear on the relation between itself and the
> many IRs. Presumably if the author's institution has an IR, Depot will
> redirect the deposit there. (In that case, excluding preprints is not a
> good idea, not only because they are crucial precursors of postprints,
> but because all IRs will welcome both preprints and postprints. It would
> be a very bad idea to try to draw a formal line between the two.)
>
> Moreover, it is stated that Depot itself will be based on the EPrints IR
> software. That means that it will have (i) the option for Closed Access
> deposit and (ii) the "Fair Use" Button -- REQUEST EMAIL EPRINT. With
> those features, almost-OA can be provided almost immediately and
> semi-automatically:
>
> Any would-be user webwide, led by the metadata to a deposit that turns
> out to be in Closed Access, can just copy/paste his email address in a
> box that is provided by the software, and press the REQUEST EMAIL EPRINT
> button. This sends the author an automatic email eprint request, containing
> a URL on which the author need merely click in order to authorize the
> automatic emailing of one copy of his eprint to the requester.
>
> http://www.eprints.org/news/features/request_button.php
>
> There is a vast difference between deferring deposit until the publisher
> endorses OA deposit, and doing an immediate CA deposit, deferring only
> the OA. Depot should definitely facilitate the latter practise.
>
> http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/71-guid.html
> http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/136-guid.html
>
> Some clarification is also needed of the mechanism of transfer from
> Depot to the author's IR.
>
> But overall, the Depot service is near-perfect, and once optimised with
> these two small changes, it is worthy of not only admiration but
> emulation worldwide.
>
> Stevan Harnad
>
> AMERICAN SCIENTIST OPEN ACCESS FORUM:
> A complete Hypermail archive of the ongoing discussion of providing
> open access to the peer-reviewed research literature online (1998-2005)
> is available at:
> http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/
> To join or leave the Forum or change your subscription address:
> http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.html
> Post discussion to:
> american-scientist-open-access-forum_at_amsci.org
>
> UNIVERSITIES: If you have adopted or plan to adopt an institutional
> policy of providing Open Access to your own research article output,
> please describe your policy at:
> http://www.eprints.org/signup/sign.php
>
> UNIFIED DUAL OPEN-ACCESS-PROVISION POLICY:
> BOAI-1 ("green"): Publish your article in a suitable toll-access journal
> http://romeo.eprints.org/
> OR
> BOAI-2 ("gold"): Publish your article in a open-access journal if/when
> a suitable one exists.
> http://www.doaj.org/
> AND
> in BOTH cases self-archive a supplementary version of your article
> in your institutional repository.
> http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/
> http://archives.eprints.org/
> http://openaccess.eprints.org/
>
>
>
Received on Sun Apr 15 2007 - 20:32:45 BST