[GOAL] The Open Access Interviews: Professor Jack Meadows

[Richard Poynder]

. The upshot is that OA must be viewed as a potential quagmire for
universities, for research funders and for politicians. The problem they
face is that it is no longer possible not to respond to the clamour for OA.
Yet the wrong response can end up making matters worse. It does not help
that the abundance of advisers and consultants willing to offer advice on OA
invariably have their own agenda, and often a vested interest in a
particular outcome.

 

All in all, one is left wondering if there is anyone in the world able to
provide an objective assessment of the current state of play of scholarly
communication and its likely future development, including OA's role in that
development. 

 

But perhaps there is someone. What about Jack Meadows, Emeritus Professor of
Library and Information Studies at Loughborough University?

 

Before retiring in 2001 Meadows was, at different times in his academic
career, a physicist, an astronomer, an information scientist, and a
historian of science. During that time he also ran a number of different
academic departments, and was both a Dean and a Pro-Vice Chancellor. In
addition, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and Permanent
Vice-President of the Library Association. And we could mention in passing
that he has an asteroid named after him too - asteroid 4600 Meadows to be
precise.

 

Vitally, Meadows has devoted a great deal of time during his life to
thinking about and researching the history of scholarly communication .

 

. although he has observed the development of OA over the years, Meadows is
not an advocate for any specific form of OA. As such, he has no particular
dream to sell, and no horse in the OA race.

 

More here: http://t.co/QCzlvezy9f

 

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