Re: A thought about H.R. 2281

[Edward Barrow <edward@plato32.demon.co.uk>]

THOMAS SANDERS wrote:

> I would agree that academic authors do not expect to be paid for most
> of their publications.  In fact some are still paying page charges to
> see their material in print.  (Obviously this does not apply to
> authors of textbooks and like material.)  In most academic settings
> I know of, faculty publication is taken into account as a vital
> aspect of tenure, promotion, salary and allocation of other
> resources.  It is also a major factor in obtaining grants for many
> faculty in subject areas where grants provide substantial funding.
> It is fairly common for research and publication to be seen as
> conditions of employment.  And academic authors are normally involved
> in education; publication is easily seen as an aspect of educating
> others (including "giving back to the profession").
> 
> It is for these reasons that I am still hopeful that a long term
> solution will be to return to past practices of universities and
> associations (or consortia of such) of direct publication of academic
> works, removing the commercial middle man.  The move to digital
> information might enable such a development.  On the other side, the
> increasing demand for interactivity of electronic resources may
> move us even further in the direction of consolidation of academic
> publications in the hands of a few fabulously profitable commercial
> publishers.

There's a lot to be said for universities becoming more involved in the
publication process, if they're prepared to come up with the capital and
to provide the management skills. More competition will always be
healthy. But the outcome may not be quite as you expect. 

In an earlier technological revolution, dissatisfaction with the
commercial players of the day prompted the universities to do their own
printing. The university presses of Oxford and Cambridge are still
integral parts of their parent universities, but  economic realities
mean that they are as jealous of their copyright as any commercial
publisher.

I actually think that scholarship would be much healthier if the
academic community could overcome its collective distaste for copyright
to take a more robust approach to the exploitation its intellectual
assets. 

-- 
Edward Barrow
edward@plato32.demon.co.uk