The money will be used to negotiate site license agreements with the companies who produce scholarly publications. Once the deals are signed, universities ought to have access to a wide range of titles electronically. The grant also only covers three years. The electronic library is held out as a solution, but scientists tend to be sceptical. The bargaining with publishers will start soon, says Groen.
Some licenses ought to be in place early in the new year.
I'm really pushing for that. Kramer says many science professors are wary of the move from print to electronic. Groen knows online access isn't popular among some professors, but she says others prefer it. The issue of the journals' costs goes beyond McGill, of course. A movement has begun among professors to retain their copyright of a paper when they publish, instead of handing it over to publishers as is generally the case now.