Open access odds and ends
Bits and pieces, because I’m bloody busy:
- DSpace fans, there’s survey results you should look at. My takeaway was that there are boatloads of people writing code around DSpace and not sharing it. I suspected that was so, and that’s why (when I actually took the survey) I put a plugin API at the top of my wants list, but now I know. I’m not all that keen on a plugin API; I just want to be able to get my hands on Other People’s Code!
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Arthur Sale, bless him, has finally recognized that repository-rats have zero power to impose mandates. He is of the opinion that the way forward is “patchwork mandates,” lobbying specific departments to impose mandates on their people. I tend to agree, despite significant reservations about repository-rat power to accomplish even this much—this is a game a smart repository-rat wants the Powers That Be in her library in on.
Me, I want the folks who might actually want to be in the repository first, before I go chasing after mandates. Know who that is? I do. It’s the little research fiefdoms. They’re smaller and vastly less bureaucratic, so there’s a lot less hair-tearing involved than with an actual department. Plus, they need the exposure in a way an established department doesn’t. Plus, anything that allows them to shove some IT chores off on somebody else will be agreeable to them.
- The Open Access Anthro wiki moved.
- Lots of government and funder mandate action happening the last couple of weeks. We live in interesting times, and for once that’s a good thing!