Re: ALPSP statement on e-publishing.

[Eric Hellman <eric@openly.com>]

At 9:09 PM -0400 4/27/02, David Goodman wrote:
>What is expensive is the reliance upon outside consultants and vendors of
>computer services; this becomes particularly expensive when the provider
>fails to supply adequate service and must be replaced. This is an
>indication that the publisher has not made competent plans; that it has
>invested in obsolete rather the current equipment, and trained staff
>knowledgeable in obsolete rather than current techniques. (I would say the
>same of any library that outsourced basic computer functions.)

I have to argue the opposite.

Outsourcing technology is really the only chance that smaller publishers
(not to mention smaller libraries) have to take advantage of the economies
of scale inherent in electronic publishing (and digital libraries).

David, can you give me an example of an electronic publishing platform
developed by "outside consultants and vendors of computer services" that
compares unfavorably with similar systems developed "inside"?

Idealibrary?  HighWire? Catchword? BioOne? JSTOR?  Project Muse?

Eric Hellman
Openly Informatics, Inc.
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