Gout research and PDF file access

[Cory Casanave]

Blocking access to gout research documents

I am a newly diagnosed with Gout and doing my research and I thank you for the information you have made public. I do find the restriction on the pdf files annoying.
If I am to be impacted by my uric acid levels I would like to know what they are, more than every 6 months from the Dr., so I got a meter (UASure). My Dr’s measure (a week after the attack started) was 7.7, my first home reading was 5.4 – but that was in the afternoon after lunch. This morning it was 6.7 (seems more reasonable).
I’m trying to understand how and how much the levels may change in a day, to see if it is really changing or the meter or something I am doing. But it seems the data I would need is behind your restricted walls. It would seem silly to “participate” on the forum to ask questions answered in these files.
So if at all possible, I request research not be blocked.
my login google email is [private] – but I never check that one, there was no option to register by email.

Again, thank you for the resources you have already provided!

[Posted via Helpdesk. Reason for not posting to forum: “This is a question about the site, not about gout.”]

---

Which Gout PDF files are important to you?

[Keith Taylor]

I’ll leave a quick answer for now. Because I think the level of interest in PDF files is much lower than I once expected. So I’m trying to spend less time on topics that interest me. Then I have more time for topics that help others.

Remember that PDFs are copyrighted documents that normally cost $30-$60 each to access legally. I’m bending the rules by making them available to members. Whereas previously I threw away the rules by making PDFs available to anyone. That was a decision that cost me plenty in server resources as every PDF robot on the planet sucked the life out of my website response times. Fortunately, I never had other penalties for infringing copyright.

I’m going to close the current PDF library soon. Because I want to encourage collaborative research projects and personal projects where members share their findings.

So I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on PDF files for gout research.

Finally Cory, I want to clarify why I believe this is a matter that needs to be discussed in this forum rather than private email. Because the reason I provide any part of this service, including PDF files, is to help people understand gout more so they can work with their doctors better. So discussions about how GoutPal operates are just as important as personal gout questions. Hopefully, I will clarify that with better documentation on my contact form soon.

[nobody]

Arguably, inducing your users to generate ad revenue in exchange for the PDF files means that you are effectively profiting (or trying to profit) from the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works which is worse than handing out the stuff freely.
Better let people find the material themselves. Some people have free access to this stuff through their work (or their education). Perhaps an anonymous forum user who has previously downloaded all the files (I didn’t) might put the whole library on Bittorrent or something. This would take care of the cost of hosting as well as of the legal risk. Just a thought.

[d q]

@nobody – LOL..! A true comedian.

[Keith Taylor]

Arguably, inducing your users to generate ad revenue in exchange for the PDF files means that you are effectively profiting (or trying to profit) from the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works which is worse than handing out the stuff freely.
Better let people find the material themselves.

Thank you very much for that. It is absolutely correct. And the bold is because I should be teaching how to fish, not feeding people.

So I’m going to take down all the PDFs. Because the only reason I started making them available was so that patients could refer their doctors to published studies rather than annoy them by saying “I read on the Internet…”

Ultimately, I’ll introduce a statement in the References section of articles. Replacing links to PDFs with something like:

"You might refer to these studies when discussing your gout management plan with your doctor. Your doctor is likely to have access to the published material. But if you or your doctor need help in finding the publication, please ask in the gout forum."

Finally, that leaves research that I’m currently investigating with a view to improving GoutPal facts. I have an idea to start a private forum to hold my work-in-progress. Then if any members are interested in that topic, they can ask to collaborate with the explanations. But I’ll think more about that depending on future responses.

Thanks for helping me think a little more clearly about this. 🙂

[nobody]

When their patients read actual studies, some doctors are even more annoyed. 🙂

[Author]

Posts