Message for ISRS Members

Mon Jun 18 12:02:55 EDT 2001

If the journal were entirely on the web, in downloadable pdf form, one might
pay for the processing through inexpensive subscriptions to gain access,
maybe $5 - $10 per year. This low cost accessibility could expand the
readership and membership. As CD-ROMs now cost less than a dollar each to
press, and are very inexpensive to mail, they could be on hand with the
journal loaded, to send on request for a small fee. Very few places that
have the journal now do not also have PCs.

Just an idea to look into...

John

_________________________________________________________

John W. McManus, PhD
Director, National Center for Caribbean Coral Reef Research (NCORE)
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS)
University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149.
jmcmanus at rsmas.miami.edu
Tel. (305) 361-4814
Fax (305) 361-4600
www.ncoremiami.org

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]  On Behalf Of Terry Done
Sent:	Wednesday, June 13, 2001 6:55 PM
To:	fazapata at zoology.up.ac.za; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject:	RE: Message for ISRS Members

Dear Fernando and Coral-Listers,

Fernando raises some good points about problems in scientific publishing in
general, and calls on the International Society for Reef Studies to set a
good example for other scientific societies.  This is certainly a
worthwhile issue for ISRS to debate among its members.

I believe ISRS already do set a good example in the way we operate in
relation to publishing.  It is quite true that many of those we would like
to have access to Coral Reefs are in third world countries (and,
incidentally, where the internet is not always available to all those whom
we would like to read Coral Reefs and Reef Encounter, our
newsletter).  Hence, the printed version is still essential for us to meet
our obligations to our members.

Members of ISRS receive the journal Coral Reefs (4 issues and ~400 pages
per year) plus the newsletter Reef Encounter (2 issues and ~ 80 pages per
year) for a subscription of US$80.  i.e. about 17c per page,
delivered.   Coral Reefs is inexpensive compared to many other journals,
and  in terms of quality and citations, it has rated well among scientific
journals in recent years.

Financial th internet access can access an electronic version of Coral
Reefs before the printed version is distributed. (See instructions on
inside cover of Coral Reefs. Members will be given more specific details
shortly).

Everyone is welcome to check the Contents of Coral Reefs and to read Reef
Encounter on the ISRS web-site at www.uncwil.edu/isrs.

Regards,

Terry Done
President
International Society for Reef Studies

At 11:20  7/06/01 +0200, FA Zapata wrote:
>Dear Coral listers and ISRS memebers,
>
>         Knowing that I may be entering rough waters, with all due respect
> to Dr.
>Done and ISRS members, and not knowing what kind of problems are causing
the
>delay in the publication of Coral Reefs and what sort of negotiations are
>being worked out with Springer-Verlag, isn't it perhaps time to re-evaluate
>how the society should publish its journal (Coral Reefs)? If we think about
>the primary purpose of the journal as a means of communicating our research
>findings, shouldn't we consider alternative options? For one, with the
>current ease and relatively much lower cost of publication on electronic
>media and widespread access to the internet, shouldn't we consider the
>option of publishing the journal online based on the ISRS web page with
free
>access to the full text of papers but without losing the rigour of peer
>review and high quality of the papers?
>
>         Some of you may be aware of the current debate on the future of
> scientific
>publishing (see for instance
>http://www.nature.com/nature/debates/e-access/index.html ). Maybe it is
time
>that we ISRS members debate the future of our society's journal as well. As
>an ISRS member from a less-developed country, I regularly experience the
>frustration of not having access to the primary literature because of its
>incredibly high cost. While Coral Reefs has been exceptional to some extent
>in this regard (although many students in less developed countries cannot
>afford to subscribe to the journal), many other journals are completely out
>of reach due to their high cost. For instance, my university has never had
>subscriptions to some of these journals, or has cancelled its
subscritptions
>because could not afford them any more. I imagine that similar situations
>occur at other institutions throughout the third world. Since most coral
>reefs are in third-world countries, I would think that it is in the
interest
>of the society to provide access to its journal to scientists, managers,
>policy makers, and students in these countries. Perhaps the ISRS could set
>an example for other scientific societies.
>
>Just some food for thought.
>
>Fernando A. Zapata
>Dpto. de Biologia
>Universidad del Valle
>Cali, Colombia
>On leave at:
>Department of Zoology and Entomology
>University of Pretoria
>Pretoria 0002
>South Africa
>
>Ph. (+ 27-12) 420-4611
>Fax. (+ 27-12) 362-5242
>
>E-Mail: fazapata at zoology.up.ac.za
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>[mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Terry Done
>Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 1:25 AM
>To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>Subject: Message for ISRS Members
>
>
>Coral Reefs
>
>I am happy to say that Volume 19(4) of Coral Reefs is now in the mail, and
>I apologize to members for delay, and thank you for your patience.  For
>those new members who paid in Bali to commence membership in 2001, we still
>hope that you will receive all four issues of Volume 20 this calendar year.
>Dick Dodge and his editorial team are working hard with publisher Springer
>Verlag to bring this about.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Terry Done
>President
>International Society for Reef Studies
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Dr Terry Done
>Leader Sustaining Living Marine Resources Project
>Australian Institute of Marine Science
>PMB #3 Mail Centre,
>Townsville Qld          4810
>Australia
>
>Phone 61 7 47 534 344
>Fax   61 7 47 725 852
>email: tdone at aims.gov.au
>
>WEBSITE for 9th International Coral Reef Symposium
>www.nova.edu/ocean/9icrs
>
>~~~~~~~
>For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
>digests, please visit www.coral.noaa.gov, click on Popular on the
>menu bar, then click on Coral-List Listserver.
>
>
>~~~~~~~
>For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
>digests, please visit www.coral.noaa.gov, click on Popular on the
>menu bar, then click on Coral-List Listserver.

Dr Terry Done
Leader Sustaining Living Marine Resources Project
Australian Institute of Marine Science
PMB #3 Mail Centre,
Townsville Qld          4810
Australia

Phone 61 7 47 534 344
Fax   61 7 47 725 852
email: tdone at aims.gov.au

WEBSITE for 9th International Coral Reef Symposium
www.nova.edu/ocean/9icrs

~~~~~~~
For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
digests, please visit www.coral.noaa.gov, click on Popular on the
menu bar, then click on Coral-List Listserver.