Degrees of Indifference and Articles of Confusion

For independent scholars, the problem of access to periodical literature is just another part of the problem of being second-class citizens trying to do first-class work. Of course, there are so many different varieties of "independence" among independent scholars and sometimes even from term to term for individual "independent scholars" that it is difficult to make statements about access to periodicals which will hold true for all independent scholars. Two statements that may hold true across the board for independent scholars are 1) access to periodicals is a subset of the more general problem of access to research libraries, and 2) independent scholars almost never have any influence whatsoever over the collection-building decisions of their favorite research libraries. Nor, for that matter, do independent scholars have any substantive voice in the formulation of policies about periodical or book access at their favorite research libraries. There are organizations of independent scholars (such as NCIS), but universities and discipline-specific academic organizations have no real incentive to recognize the legitimate research needs of independent scholars, much less to reform a system that rewards the professoriate with privileged access to precious resources.

The ways in which independent scholars seek, nonetheless, to obtain access to periodical research materials are many and sometimes ingenious. Some independent scholars work as staff members at universities and colleges, and thus gain staff-level library privileges. Of course, the degree of access to periodicals those privileges offer them will vary greatly. That access will depend upon such factors as the size and type of the university where they work, and the types of departments and research foci within those departments. Another category of researchers who often identify themselves as independent scholars is adjunct faculty members. Adjunct faculty members tend to have better library privileges than staff members; however, the terms of employment for adjuncts may also be far less steady than those of staff members. Then, of course, there are independent scholars who don't teach or otherwise have an ongoing affiliation with any academic library. Some such truly independent scholars join alumni associations at the local research university in order to have decent periodical access to a research library. I live on the San Francisco Peninsula and am an alumnus of both Stanford University and the University of California at Santa Cruz. As an alumnus of Stanford I automatically receive entrance to the campus libraries seven days per year. I receive an additional seven days per year as a lifetime member of the Stanford Alumni Association. No borrowing privileges are included. As an alumnus, I could pay $100 per year to obtain unlimited access to the campus libraries; however, I would still not have borrowing privileges. A non-alumnus could purchase the same access for $200 per year. For $300, I am eligible as an alumnus to purchase undergraduate-level borrowing privileges and a year's access to Stanford's libraries; however, after paying my $300, I would still not have access to reserves, to computerized literature searches, to licensed databases, to reference desk help, to closed stacks, to restricted computer terminals, or to interlibrary loan. A non-Stanford alumnus or alumna would pay $500 for those minimal privileges. For $40 per year, I can also join the UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association and enjoy library access and three weeks borrowing privileges at any library in the UC system. Again, I would have limited access to databases, and interlibrary loan would remain unavailable to me.

The one place inter-library loan is available to me as an independent scholar is through my public library system, but there the charge of $5 per item is prohibitive for all but the most limited of periodical research. At times it has been more cost effective for me to buy items on eBay than it has been to try to obtain access to them through interlibrary loan or through university libraries.

There are, of course, the rare research libraries—such as the Huntington Library in San Marino, The Morgan in New York, and The Newberry in Chicago—which are not part of any...