[OAI-eprints] Interoperability - subject
classification/terminology
Peter Suber
peters@earlham.edu
Sat, 23 Nov 2002 09:54:44 -0500
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At 04:19 AM 11/23/2002 +0000, you wrote:
>Why is it that Open Archives/ E-prints works well in
>some fields (physics, astronomy, computer science) and
>not in other fields (say, agriculture)? I would like
>to hear from members of the list.
>
>Arun
>[Subbiah Arunachalam]
Arun: Here's my list of the FOS-relevant differences among the
disciplines. Some are effects rather than causes of archive use, and some
are relevant to aspects of FOS other than archive use. But it's a start.
Different disciplines have different needs. Some have superb print indices,
online indices, or search engines, and some don't. Some have online
preprint exchanges, and some don't. The literature in some fields is pure
text, perhaps with an occasional table or illustration, while in others it
relies heavily on images or even multi-media presentations. In some,
journal literature is the primary literature, while in others it only
reports on the history and interpretation of the primary literature. In
some fields, both truth and money are at stake in the results reported in
scholarly literature, while in others, only truth is at stake. In some
fields, most published research is funded, while in others very little is.
In some disciplines, the cost of research is greater than the cost of
publication, while in others, the reverse is true. In some fields, most
journal publishers are for-profit corporations, while in other fields most
are non-profit universities, libraries, or professional societies. In some
fields, nearly all publishing researchers are employed by universities,
while in others the fraction is significantly smaller. In some fields, the
sets of journal readers and journal authors are nearly identical, while in
others they overlap only slightly. In some fields, research will be impeded
if access to journal literature is not timely, while in others timeliness
matters much less. In some fields, the percentage of published literature
which is online is comparatively high and growing fast; in others it is
negligible and growing glacially. We should not expect, then, that a
solution which fits all disciplines will occur early in this evolution, or
that a solution with this potential will apply to all disciplines at
roughly the same time.
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/index.htm#disciplines
I'm continually revising this list and in any case look forward to other,
more specific answers to Arun's question.
Peter
----------
Peter Suber, Professor of Philosophy
Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, 47374
Email peters@earlham.edu
Web http://www.earlham.edu/~peters
Editor, Free Online Scholarship Newsletter
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/
Editor, FOS News blog
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html
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At 04:19 AM 11/23/2002 +0000, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite>Why is it that Open Archives/
E-prints works well in<br>
some fields (physics, astronomy, computer science) and<br>
not in other fields (say, agriculture)? I would like<br>
to hear from members of the list.<br><br>
Arun<br>
[Subbiah Arunachalam]</blockquote><br><br>
Arun: Here's my list of the FOS-relevant differences among the
disciplines. Some are effects rather than causes of archive use,
and some are relevant to aspects of FOS other than archive use. But
it's a start. <br>
<dl>
<dd>Different disciplines have different needs. Some have superb print
indices, online indices, or search engines, and some don't. Some have
online preprint exchanges, and some don't. The literature in some fields
is pure text, perhaps with an occasional table or illustration, while in
others it relies heavily on images or even multi-media presentations. In
some, journal literature is the primary literature, while in others it
only reports on the history and interpretation of the primary literature.
In some fields, both truth and money are at stake in the results reported
in scholarly literature, while in others, only truth is at stake. In some
fields, most published research is funded, while in others very little
is. In some disciplines, the cost of research is greater than the cost of
publication, while in others, the reverse is true. In some fields, most
journal publishers are for-profit corporations, while in other fields
most are non-profit universities, libraries, or professional societies.
In some fields, nearly all publishing researchers are employed by
universities, while in others the fraction is significantly smaller. In
some fields, the sets of journal readers and journal authors are nearly
identical, while in others they overlap only slightly. In some fields,
research will be impeded if access to journal literature is not timely,
while in others timeliness matters much less. In some fields, the
percentage of published literature which is online is comparatively high
and growing fast; in others it is negligible and growing glacially. We
should not expect, then, that a solution which fits all disciplines will
occur early in this evolution, or that a solution with this potential
will apply to all disciplines at roughly the same time. <br><br>
</dl><a href=3D"http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/index.htm#disciplines"=
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/index.htm#disciplines=
</a><br><br>
I'm continually revising this list and in any case look forward to other,
more specific answers to Arun's question.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Peter<br><br>
<br>
<br>
<hr>
<font color=3D"#808080">Peter Suber, Professor of Philosophy <br>
Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, 47374<br>
Email peters@earlham.edu <br>
Web
<a href=3D"http://www.earlham.edu/~peters"=
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.earlham.edu/~peters</a><br><br>
Editor, Free Online Scholarship Newsletter<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/"=
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/</a><br>
Editor, FOS News blog<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html" eudora=3D"autour=
l">http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html</a></font></html>
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