Google print, protection & innovation

[heatherm@eln.bc.ca]

**  with apologies for cross-posting - to liblicense and the SPARC Open
Access Forum **

Here is my two bits on the Google print discussion:

Wouldn't the interests of the publishing industry be better served by a
shift in focus from protection to innovation?

For example, why not see Google print as an opportunity rather than a
threat?  Perhaps Google print will get more people reading.  Some will
borrow books from the libraries, of course, but others will buy.

There are many books that are being covered by the Google print programs
that are out of print. Suing people costs money.  Why not develop a print
in demand service instead, so that if people do want to read these books,
it will be easy to purchase a copy if they so choose?

Speaking of innovation, here is an idea for a hybrid open access /
subscription model that might be worth a try for a publisher in library
and information science.  Instead of republishing the same articles over
and over again - as Phil Davis pointed out has happened (thanks Phil), why
not find something new that your market is interested in?

For example, think about the huge and profitable market for manga in
Japan.  Many librarians I know are experiencing a real hunger for this
kind of graphic material.  We are sick of the stereotypes, and would love
to be seen as the action heroes we, in fact, are! Fearless (intellectual)
freedom fighters!  Passionate protectors of privacy!  Ardent Advocates of
Open Access!  Able to help with any information need, with a single
(intellectual) leap!  I could go on...

Why not a library journal with totally open access peer reviewed articles,
combined with a one-issue-embargoed manga / graphics novella section?  At
the right price, I think personal subscriptions could skyrocket.  Not to
mention t-shirts, posters, etc.  When marketing to institutions, it might
be best to focus on institutional support for open access.

This approach won't work for every journal or discipline, and is not meant
to represent an economic model for open access overall.  It just might
work for some journals, though - and there must be other creative business
ideas out there, too.

a purely personal viewpoint by,

Heather G. Morrison

"All around us enterprises are weighing the demands of adapting or
transforming their  business models".  Rick Johnson, The Future of Scholarly

Communication in the Humanities:  Adaption or Transformation?  Presentation,

MLA Convention, December 2004.	http://www.arl.org/sparc/pubs/index.html

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