Re: How to fund open access journals from available sources

[Carl Anderson <ca25@drexel.edu>]

Subscription-based journals go back to the sixteenth century and folks are
still trying and succeeding to make a buck by the enterprise.  I'd say
that's a pretty good demonstration of the system's long-term economic
viability.  It's the customers who are experiencing economic crisis, but
one way or the other we're still going to have to buy the product.  As
much as we (the customers) try to find cheaper models, the publishers
still seem to be doing a bang-up job of cranking out articles and
generating revenues.  And the alternative models that make it cheaper for
one guy all seem to depend on someone else's altruism.  No?  - Carl

Carl A. Anderson
Director of Electronic Resources
Drexel University Libraries
215-895-2771
Carl.Anderson@drexel.edu


On Wed, 21 Apr 2004, Heather Morrison wrote:

> Is there a body of knowledge that demonstrates the long-term economic
> viability of the subscription-based method of providing access to
> scholarly journal articles?
>
> My understanding is that not only is there no such proof, but there is,
> rather, a substantial body of evidence indicating a system that has been
> in crisis for decades, with no resolution in sight.
>
> What this means, from my point of view, is that we're all experimenting,
> like it or not.

[SNIP]