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Sharing a recent article that may also be of some interest / best, kw "*The Open Access Availability of Library and Information Science Literature" by Doug Way * in: *College & Research Libraries July 2010, vol. 71, no. 4 pp.302-309* David Way is head of Collection Development at Grand Valley State University Abstract: "To examine the open access availability of Library and Information Science (LIS) research, a study was conducted using Google Scholar to search for articles from 20 top LIS journals. The study examined whether Google Scholar was able to find any links to full text, if open access versions of the articles were available and where these articles were being hosted. The results showed that the archiving of articles is not a regular practice in the field; articles were not being deposited in institutional or subject repositories at a high rate; and overall, the percentage of available open access articles in LIS was similar to the findings in previous studies. In addition, the study found that Google Scholar is an effective tool for finding known LIS articles." an EXCERPT on METHODOLOGY: "Following the methodology and rationale outlined by Coleman in December 2008, a search was conducted in Ulrich's Periodicals Directory for those journals with a descriptor of Library and Information Science. From that list of journals, the twenty journals with the highest impact factor, as listed in the 2007 Journal Citation Reports Social Science Edition, were selected for evaluation." .. Excerpt only p. 304/Methodology section ------------------- from the CONCLUSION: "Providing access to information is a basic tenet of librarianship. Ranganathan's classic work, The Five Laws of Library Science, calls upon libraries to make information widely available and easily accessible to all people. While Ranganathan's work referred to books, these principles hold true regardless of the format of the information and can be seen in the field's support of the OA movement. Yet this study has found there is a seeming contradiction in the lack of archiving of articles appearing in the top LIS journals. This is in spite of the fact that a previous study found that 90 percent of these journals allow some form of self-archiving. To remedy this, librarians and LIS scholars need to take a leadership role and set an example for other fields by archiving all articles they publish. The fact that library faculty are placing open access mandates on themselves is an encouraging development. Even when not bound by a mandate, though, authors need to exert more control over their research through the use of addendums to publication agreements that allow them to retain certain rights, including the right to self-archive. If publishers do not allow self-archiving or accept addenda, authors then need to refuse to publish in those venues. It would be at that point that the availability of LIS literature would match the rhetoric of many of its practitioners, and the field could point to its own literature as a shining example of free and open access." p. 308 David Way, in College & Research Libraries July 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karen Weaver, MLS Electronic Resources Statistician Duquesne University, Gumberg Library Pittsburgh PA email: [log in to unmask] /Adjunct Faculty, Cataloging & Classification The iSchool at Drexel University, Philadelphia PA email: [log in to unmask] "*The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education"* ---Albert Einstein 1879-1955, Nobel Laureate