The Chronicle: 1/30/2004: The Promise and Peril of 'Open Access'. Wow, this is an extensive and informative article by Lila Guterman. Read it just to gain perspective of the kind of numbers involved in stocking a diverse biomedical library. If big research universities like those in CA and Duke University are having trouble paying for the journals used in their library, how do you think the smaller universities fair? I particularly liked the following paragraph:
In 2002, PLoS received a $9-million start-up grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Using that money, the group recruited a respected staff, including Vivian Siegel -- who had been editor of Cell -- as executive director. It also bought publicity, including a television commercial that ran during The Simpsons and The Late Show With David Letterman last summer.
I had no idea that lots of scientists watched "The Simpsons." You'd think they'd get more coverage with shows like National Geographic or something. But then again, I rarely watch National Geographic.
Posted by johnvu at January 27, 2004 12:34 PM