[IAMSLIC:1934] re: another view on AGU's position on DOI

From: Peter Brueggeman (pbrueggeman@ucsd.edu)
Date: Thu May 09 2002 - 14:30:04 PDT

  • Next message: Peter Brueggeman: "[IAMSLIC:1935] Fw: [geonet] another vies on AGU's position on DOI"

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Shaun Hardy" <hardy@dtm.ciw.edu>
    To: "GEONET" <geonet@purdue.edu>; "Peter Brueggeman" <pbrueggeman@ucsd.edu>
    Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 12:45 PM
    Subject: Re: [geonet] re: another view on AGU's position on DOI

    : As Michael observes, APS has implemented DOIs in its journal production --
    : but they have not drastically changed their prescribed citation format, as
    : AGU has done. A glace at current APS journals (Physical Review, PRL,
    : Reviews of Modern Physics) and the APS guidelines for authors shows that
    : papers are still cited in familiar bibliographic notation:
    :
    : W.T. Geng and A.J. Freeman, Phys. Rev. B 64, 115401 (2001).
    :
    : The only difference is that a six-digit article number (which applies to
    : both the online and print version) now takes the place of the old page number.
    :
    : Shaun Hardy
    :
    :
    : At 10:00 AM 5/9/02 -0700, Peter Brueggeman wrote:
    : >Michael Fosmire makes some good points, but the issue isn't whether DOI is
    : >understandable. It is common human experience that what is understandable to
    : >some, won't be understandable to others. The issue to my mind is whether a
    : >user-friendly, simpler citation scheme can co-exist with the DOI. We all
    : know
    : >that for at least a century people cite publications incorrectly, using
    : just a
    : >volume number, issue number, and begining and ending pages. It seems so
    : simple,
    : >yet how many times have you dealt with erroneous citations? Therefore
    : replacing
    : >that already imperfect scheme with a longer DOI citation format involving
    : more
    : >numbers will be problematic. The longer the citation format, the more
    : >opportunity you give someone to get it wrong. I don't see how that
    : changes with
    : >online ejournals; correct me if I am wrong. A solution would be to replace
    : >sequential pagination (which people mess up as we all know) with an even
    : simpler
    : >article numbering scheme as Henry Hagedorn suggested, in order to keep it
    : >simple. I can reach his ejournal's online article on the Web simply with
    : >" insectscience.org/2.7 " as the URL.
    : >
    : >
    : >Dunkov, B.C., Georgieva, T., Yoshiga, T., Hall, M., Law, J.H. 2002.
    : >Aedes aegypti ferritin heavy chain homologue: feeding of iron or
    : >blood influences message levels, lengths and subunit abundance. 10
    : >pp. Journal of Insect Science, 2.7. Available online:
    : >insectscience.org/2.7
    : >
    : >
    : >=============================================================
    : >Peter Brueggeman, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library
    : >UCSD, 9500 Gilman Dr, Dept 0219, San Diego CA 92093-0219 USA
    : >pbrueggeman@ucsd.edu Tel 858/534-1230 Fax 858/534-5269
    : >
    : >
    : >----- Original Message -----
    : >From: "Judy Holoviak" <JHoloviak@agu.org>
    : >To: <asli@www.lib.noaa.gov>
    : >Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 8:29 AM
    : >Subject: <asli> another view on AGU's position on DOI
    : >
    : >
    : >: The following appeared on a listserve of the Science and
    : >: Technology Section of the Association of College and Research
    : >: Libraries. Michael Fosmire has given me permission to post it to
    : >: other lists.
    : >:
    : >: The AGU Publications Committee has carefully considered the
    : >: points raised and the chair is in the process of preparing a
    : >: response.
    : >:
    : >: Judy Holoviak
    : >: Deputy Executive Director and
    : >: Director of Publications
    : >: AGU
    : >:
    : >: >
    : >: > Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 19:04:22 -0500 (US Eastern Standard Time)
    : >: > From: Michael Fosmire <fosmire@purdue.edu>
    : >: >
    : >: > There are many issues on which AGU and I disagree on their ejournal
    : >: > implementation. However, using DOI's is not one of them. One publisher
    : >: > that has implemented the DOI in a format similar to AGU is the American
    : >: > Physical Society--which has consistently been a leader in the development
    : >: > of electronic publishing.
    : >: >
    : >: > The DOI does have a logical format, and once you see it, it shouldn't
    : >: > be horribly difficult to reproduce. For example, APS has this as a
    : sample
    : >: > DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.65.041001. The first number is the publisher
    : >: > identifier, the second is the journal title, the third is the volume
    : >: > number, and the last one is, first the issue number, then the article
    : >: > number. It isn't much different than a volume, page number citation
    : style
    : >: > once you break it down. AGU's DOI doesn't look much different, with
    : their
    : >: > publisher number, a year-indicator, a two-letter journal abbreviation,
    : and
    : >: > then an article number. It doesn't seem that misquoting an article
    : number
    : >: > is that much more difficult than misquoting some page numbers (certainly
    : >: > that's the biggest error I see in citation checking)--and with the DOI
    : the
    : >: > publisher can automatically check for those errors more easily than
    : with a
    : >: > non-DOI citation. Physicists have been citing arXive preprints
    : >: > for several years without too much trouble, and I think authors are
    : >: > flexible enough to adapt to new citation styles.
    : >: >
    : >: > AGU is actually ahead of the curve in this respect, and I imagine
    : other
    : >: > publishers will follow suit in the coming years. You have to think in
    : the
    : >: > new paradigm of an e-first document. Animations and data sets have no
    : >: > reality as a page number. Furthermore, since web publishing allows the
    : >: > end user some flexibility in how they recieve the data, page length can
    : >: > differ from one user to another...not to mention different formats (for
    : >: > example, HMTL vs. PDF versions of an article can yield different article
    : >: > lengths). What is meant by a page number thus becomes increasingly
    : >: > meaningless.
    : >: >
    : >: > Also, I see a change in how citations are being done. With a DOI you
    : >: > can drag and drop citations from the source paper into the paper you are
    : >: > writing, so errors don't accrue since there is no manual transcription of
    : >: > citation data. Publishers also can more easily link a DOI than a
    : citation
    : >: > based on the paper page numbers--faster, more automated link creation, so
    : >: > we can surf from the paper to its references (and indeed to future
    : >: > articles that cite the paper). Instead of having the editors or a
    : >: > computer program try and translate a paper number-based citation into its
    : >: > DOI equivalent, it would certainly be easier if the DOI was given to
    : begin
    : >: > with.
    : >: >
    : >: > As librarians complain that publishers keep raising prices, we
    : should be
    : >: > applauding those publishers that are attempting to streamline the editing
    : >: > process--the dollars saved are those that don't come out of our pockets.
    : >: > Faster, cheaper, increased functionality comes without that much added
    : >: > cognitive overhead for the authors.
    : >: >
    : >: > Rather than excoriate AGU for moving to the DOI, they should be
    : >: > applauded for their foresight and willingness to follow the trail broken
    : >: > by APS (in 1999 or thereabouts as near as I can remember). There will be
    : >: > some growing pains as we transition to a new citation style (and authors,
    : >: > indexers, and librarians will feel it), but, once it does become the
    : >: > dominant citation pattern, the old page number citation will seem as
    : >: > strange as the DOI does now.
    : >: >
    : >: > Anyway, just some opinions on the matter.
    : >: >
    : >: > -M.
    : >: >
    : >: > Michael Fosmire
    : >: > Science Librarian
    : >: > 1530 Physics Building
    : >: > Purdue University
    : >: > West Lafayette, IN 47907-1530
    : >: > Phone: 765-494-2859
    : >: > Fax: 765-494-0706
    : >: > fosmire@purdue.edu
    : >
    : __________________________________________________________________________
    : Shaun J. Hardy
    : Librarian
    :
    : Carnegie Institution of Washington phone: (202) 478-7960
    : DTM-Geophysical Laboratory Library fax: (202) 478-8821
    : 5241 Broad Branch Road, N.W.
    : Washington, DC 20015 e-mail: hardy@dtm.ciw.edu



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