The donor restrictions are also negotiable. The degree of restriction is not relevant to this discussion. As for "conduit", I wonder how many librarians feel they are money pipes between their institution and the publishers. Jean-Claude On 2024-03-08 08:56, Rick Anderson wrote: > > At the risk of being drafted into the monastic orders, I’ll respond > once more on this thread and then stop. > > Donor funds are actually a very interesting case in the context of > this discussion – because they’re usually far more restrictive than > institutionally-allocated funds are. Whereas a university typically > says to its library each year “Here’s $X for collections, and $X for > personnel, and $X for operations (etc.)”, a donor is much more likely > to say “Here’s $X which, in honor of my late father, you may use to > purchase 15^th -century Persian texts in Greek translation.” (And if > that sounds like an exaggeration, I would suggest that you haven’t > spent much time raising money for libraries.) > > It's not unheard of, but relatively rare, for a donor (or a host > institution) to give money to a library and say “Do whatever you want > with this money.” Generally, both donors and host institutions provide > funds to libraries so that the library will do things that the donors > and the institutions want done. For the library to accept those funds > and then use them to pursue a different agenda isn’t “courageous”; > it’s dishonest and unethical. > > (In case anyone might find it interesting and/or amusing, I wrote a > brief piece in /Library Journal/ ten years ago on the vagaries of > gifts in libraries, called “Kitten in a Beer Mug: The Myth of the Free > Gift”: > https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/kitten-in-a-beer-mug-the-myth-of-the-free-gift-peer-to-peer-review > <https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/kitten-in-a-beer-mug-the-myth-of-the-free-gift-peer-to-peer-review>.) > > --- > > Rick Anderson > > University Librarian > > Brigham Young University > > (801) 422-4301 > > [log in to unmask] > > *From: *Jean-Claude Guédon <[log in to unmask]> > *Date: *Friday, March 8, 2024 at 1:50 AM > *To: *Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>, > "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> > *Subject: *Re: [OPENCAFE-L] The source of money (Re: [OPENCAFE-L] > European Policy Shifts) > > I have been involved closely enough with libraries and consortia (CRKN > in this case) to know the degrees of freedom libraries have once they > take hold of their budget from their overarching institution. Arguing > that libraries are not the source of their money is Jesuitical at > best. Yes, the money is allocated by someone else - a university, > whatever - and yes they have to report to someone in the > administration, once the money is spent. But they can also raise money > - my wife was doing that brilliantly at McGill - and they are not just > conduits. > > That is what lucidity (and courage) mean, > > Jean-Claude > > On 2024-03-07 08:51, Rick Anderson wrote: > > I realize that the differences between this odd caricature of my > previous message and what I actually said are obvious and don’t > require a detailed rebuttal. > > But I do want to emphasize that by pointing out the fact that > libraries are not the source of the funds that they inject into > the scholcomm system, I neither said nor implied that librarians > are either “powerless” or not “strong.” Nor did I characterize > examples of libraries “successfully redirecting money towards > various openness initiatives” as “marginal”; I actually called > them “very impressive.” > > Yrs. in lucid thinking, > > Rick > > --- > > Rick Anderson > > University Librarian > > Brigham Young University > > (801) 422-4301 > > [log in to unmask] > > *From: *Jean-Claude Guédon <[log in to unmask]> > <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > *Date: *Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 2:48 AM > *To: *Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]> > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>, "[log in to unmask]" > <mailto:[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]> > <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > *Subject: *Re: [OPENCAFE-L] The source of money (Re: [OPENCAFE-L] > European Policy Shifts) > > On 2024-03-06 16:32, Rick Anderson wrote: > > /This is a very common misconception among people who don’t > work in libraries, and for some reason it’s proven very > difficult to dislodge. The actual reality is that libraries > are not sources of money at all; they’re conduits through > which money flows. The source of that money is the libraries’ > host institutions./ > > Rick makes a gallant attempt to demonstrate the powerlessness of > librarians within their institutions. What he is really referring > to is an instance of institutional politics where librarians, > while not in a dominant position, nonetheless enjoy a degree of > power and some ability to negotiate. What I am referring to is > that when librarians become aware of their real power (which is > not all that great, but, once again, is not zero), they have to > think lucidly on how they can put some direction and coherence on > their conduits. > > If I were to believe that librarians are truly passive conduits, I > would pity them deeply. I have too much knowledge about, > admiration for and faith in that profession to know that > librarians can do more than what Rick states. He himself admits > that it exists. He tries to reduce this to marginal exceptions, > but that is another question that some evidence-based scholars can > solve, I believe. One only has to think about the book-banning > efforts in the US and how librarians react. This is a strong and > generally courageous profession. > > Jean-Claude > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Access the OPENCAFE-L Home Page and Archives > <https://listserv.byu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=OPENCAFE-L> > > > To unsubscribe from OPENCAFE-L send an email to: > [log in to unmask] > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Access the OPENCAFE-L Home Page and Archives > <https://listserv.byu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=OPENCAFE-L> > > > To unsubscribe from OPENCAFE-L send an email to: > [log in to unmask] > ######################################################################## Access the OPENCAFE-L Home Page and Archives: https://listserv.byu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=OPENCAFE-L To unsubscribe from OPENCAFE-L send an email to: [log in to unmask] ########################################################################