Nathan wrote:
It's a pretty neat idea. I think we should start
with trying to get access
to JSTOR. Gmaxwell's objection is one that we should, I think, leave aside.
JSTOR access for Wikimedia editors would be quite handy, although I'm not
sure how many could use it or would avail themselves of it were the
opportunity publicized.
We should avoid general assumptions about any group of people, including
ours. For instance, either that many editors have access to these resources
already (I do, but I see no reason to believe "many" do), or that "most
of
academia" has any particular opinion of Wikimedia and its projects.
Perhaps this suggestion was posted to the wrong list - foundation-l would be
more appropriate, since I don't think individual editors should be
approaching organizations like JSTOR without the prior notice and approval
of the Foundation.
You raise an important point about the Foundation being the one
to seek
access. The usefulness would be across the projects, not just for
English Wikipedia. In Wikisource no more than a dozen would likely need
access at any given time. Understandably, we wouldn't be duplicating
the protected material that they host, but more than once I have run
into their brick wall when I was only trying to find some basic
information about an author hosted by Wikisource.
Ec