[Dspace-general] request button

[Stevan Harnad]

Dear Klaus,

It is useful that you have tested and found that the U. St Gallen's  
Alexandria Repository's Eprint Request Button produced no eprints for  
six requests.

The best use to which this outcome can be put is to notify the  
Alexandria Repository manager alexandria at unisg.ch that something is  
amiss in their implementation of the Button: Either is is not working  
mechanically (the requests fail to reach the authors, or the authors'  
responses fail to generate an eprint emailing) or that their authors  
have not been informed of its function and purpose).

I also suggest you try some more IRs that implement the Button.  
(Perhaps you wish to post to AmSci and JISC-REPOSITORIES to ask which  
IRs have implemented it.)

The conclusions that this single Alexandria case study will *not*  
support are either that (1) the Button itself does not work,  
simpliciter, or (2) that authors don't want to use it.

I also don't understand the reply that "scholars are more willing to  
send full texts when directly contacted": Is a direct email contact  
not a direct contact?

 From decades of experience with reprint mailing I can say with  
confidence that the Alexandria data do not make sense to me, and are  
likely the result either of an incorrect implementation of the Button  
or a failure to inform authors about its function.

Best wishes,

Stevan Harnad

On 10-Oct-08, at 10:16 AM, Klaus Graf wrote:

> I have published one more test using the Alexandria server at Sankt
> Gallen (Switzerland):
>
> http://archiv.twoday.net/stories/5247312/
>
> From 6 requested full texts I received none. Alexandria manager says
> that their experience is that scholars are more willing to send
> fulltexts when directly contacted.
>
> Best,
> Klaus
>
> 2008/9/18 Peter Suber <peters at earlham.edu>:
>> If the button is illegal under German law, or if some existing  
>> buttons are
>> not working as intended, you're doing a service by pointing that out.
>>
>> But I never argued that the button should be implemented where it was
>> illegal or that the defective ones were not defective.  As far as I  
>> know,
>> neither did Stevan.
>>
>>     Best,
>>     Peter
>>
>>
>> At 05:30 PM 9/17/2008, you wrote:
>>
>> As you have seen I have summarized the findings of
>>
>> http://archiv.twoday.net/stories/5193609/
>>
>> in the AMSCI forum. If you know a better discussion of the request
>> button please let me know.
>>
>> Best,
>> Klaus