Organizational and Business Perspectives on Open Access to Information

Oya Y. RiegerCornell University Library

LVI 2012

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• established in 1991 by Paul Ginsparg

• has been hosted at Cornell since 2001

• includes 790,000 e-prints

• 2011 –76,578 new submissions –~50 million downloads

2011 Institutional Downloads by Domain Name

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edu 26%

de 12%

uk 8%jp 7%fr 6%

it 5%

ch 4%

ca 3%gov 3%

es 3%

other 24%

CUL: 0.5% use rank #38

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Business Model, 2013-2017• Cornell University Library– $75,000 per year in support of operational costs – in-kind contribution of all indirect costs (37%)

• Simons Foundation– $50,000 per year – $300,000 per year matching grant

• Member Institution– annual fees within $1,500-3,000 range (based on usage

ranking)

Sociotechnical Systems

• interrelatedness of social and technical aspects of an information systems

• networks of content, people, work practices, values, and policies

Principles for Sustainability

1. Deep integration into academic community and scholarly processes

2. Clearly defined mandate & governance structure

3. Technology platform stability and innovation4. Systematic development of content policies5. Reliance on business planning strategies

• Factor in research, communication, and collaboration practices & values• Balance IT bandwidth with sociocultural

bandwidth • Implement user-based strategies & feedback

cycles

1. Deep Integration into Academic Community & Scholarly Processes

2. Clearly Defined Mandate & Governance Structure

• Ensure that an organization has the means to:–envision its future– implement the vision– sustain the process over time

• Tenets:–Participatory, accountable, transparent,

responsive, equitable, and inclusive

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arXiv -- Key Principles• General – arXiv provides an open access repository of scientific

research to authors and researchers worldwide.– arXiv is a scholarly communication forum informed and

guided by scientists and the scientific cultures being served.

• Editorial– Criteria and standards for deposit in arXiv are maintained by

the Scientific Advisory Board.

• Economic– arXiv is supported financially by Cornell University Library

and a global collective of institutional members with potential foundation grants

• Governance

Member Advisory Board

Scientific Advisory Board

• Advise CUL on issues related to:o repository management and

development,o standards implementation,

interoperability,o development priorities,o business planningo outreach and advocacy.

• Provide advice and guidance pertaining to the intellectual oversight of arXiv

• Oversee arXiv's moderation system.• Review the criteria and standards

for deposit in arXiv • Propose new subject or discipline

domains

Cornell University Library• Manages the moderation of submissions and user

support;• Operates arXiv’s technical infrastructure;• Ensures long-term access and maintains arXiv mirror

sites.• Establishes and maintains partnerships with related

initiatives; • Assumes financial responsibility for running arXiv;• Maintains transparent and open communication; • Provides legal protection.

• Repository ecology:– interoperability & relation to other

repositories– lowering the barriers in contributing content

in multiple repositories –discovery & access: increasing relevance– archiving for access by designated

communities – features in support of supplementary

information objects

3. Technology Platform Stability and Innovation

• Clearly defined collection policies and submission guidelines

• Quality control & endorsement systems

• Scholarly communication chain– version control & persistence– author name disambiguation

4. Systematic Development of Content Policies

• Key elements of a business planning–Value proposition – Stakeholders’ perspectives– Financial planning – costs & revenues–ROI–Communication plan

5. Reliance on Business Planning Strategies

Repository Architecture

Discovery and Access

Submission, Moderation, Quality

Control

Interoperability with Related Systems

Sociology of Science&

Stakeholders

Financial Stability

SUSTAINABILITY