RE: open access to dissertations

["Corbett, Hillary" <h.corbett@neu.edu>]

I agree with Kevin and Elizabeth. I would venture a guess that 
the titles that Sandy mentions (both published in 1979, 
incidentally), were likely quite a bit more costly as revised 
dissertations in their first printing than they are today as 
heavily purchased classics (adjusting for inflation, etc., of 
course).  A quick search of revised dissertations sent to us as 
"slips" from Yankee since 1/1/2011 turned up 465 titles, of which 
the average list price was $80. (Prices range from $15 to a 
whopping $272.) Some of them do sound of general enough interest 
to be worth purchasing, and may indeed become classics over time, 
but others... how about "Pizza and Pizza Chefs in Japan: A Case 
of Culinary Globalization" for $107.00?

Given that newly published revised dissertations are very likely 
to be at the tail end of the long tail, it makes poor sense, in 
my eyes, to hinder their purchase by the few who are likely to 
select them by using the traditional production/distribution 
processes that drive up cost. Why aren't more revised 
dissertations published as print-on-demand or as short-run 
digital publications, if they must be produced in print at all?

Hillary

......................
Hillary Corbett
Scholarly Communication Librarian
Snell Library
Northeastern University
h.corbett@neu.edu