Rice U. Press

[Joseph Esposito <espositoj@gmail.com>]

The Chronicle is reporting that Rice U. Press is being shut down:

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Rice-U-to-Close-Its-Digital/26342/

This is a sad development, but let's be careful not to draw the 
wrong conclusions from it.

The Chronicle seems to think that the problem was that Rice was 
digital-only, ignoring its marketing model.  This is a red 
herring. There is much more to publishing than determining 
whether to publish in print or in digital form.

We should expect to hear some people condemn Rice's open access 
model. I think that would be a mistake.  Here again, there are 
more things in heaven and earth, etc.  There is a place for 
economically compelling open access publication, and Rice's 
impatience in searching for that place does not mean that there 
are not many ways open access material can be made viable.

Joe Esposito