Another use might be by potential graduate students or
potential
faculty looking to see if the institution/department is a
good
fit.
Martha Tucker, Librarian
UW Libraries/Mathematics Research Library
Seattle, WA 98195-4350
www.lib.washington.edu/math
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandy Thatcher" <sgt3 psu.edu>
To: <liblicense-llists.yale.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: the value of IRs
> #2 is a little vague, without more specificity about
just how IRs are to
> be used for this purpose. But #1 is what I am really
questioning, in
> practical terms. The "relevance" to whom?
The "institution's visibility,
> status" in whose eyes? Who is the target audience
for IRs? Presumably the
> most important audience would be the people who make
decisions having a
> major financial impact on universities, like state
legislators or members
> of Congress.
>
> But does anyone have any evidence that either of these
important
> constituencies has ever actually viewed anything in an
IR? And what would
> such a person make of very specialized research? On
what grounds could
> such a person pass judgment as to the quality or
"relevance" of such
> research, unless it were research targeted to very
specific projects
> funded by the state or federal government, which would
normally be brought
> to the attention of the funding bodies through formal
reports on the use
> of funds granted, not through materials found on IRs.
So, exactly whom are
> universities trying to impress with their IRs?
>
> A true evaluation of the value of a university's
research output would be
> a mammoth undertaking, far beyond what any individual
legislator could
> even begin to tackle. What determines the university's
"status," then,
> since no such formal evaluation is ever actually
carried out (apart, I
> suppose, from accrediting bodies)?
>
> Sandy Thatcher
> Penn State University Press
>
>
>>Sandy: A recent reading of Raym Crow's 2002 SPARC
White Paper on IRs
>>reminded me that he gave two principal reason for
setting them up:
>>
>>1. Serve as tangible indicators of an institution's
quality and to
>>demonstrate the relevance of its research
activities, thus increasing the
>>institution's visibility, status, and public value
(what one could term
>>administrative aggregation).
>>
>>2. Provide tools to assist universities in
re-shaping the scholarly
>>communications process (what one could term a repair
function).
>>
>>Ann Okerson/Yale Library
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