Re: A Radical Thesis

From: ODI LIBRARY <library[_at_]odi.org.uk>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 14:38:09 0

> From: Karen Coyle <kec[_at_]stubbs.ucop.edu>
>
> The elimination of printing alone isn't going to save us much money.

In some developing countries it will actually cost more - the cost of printing off the net is greater than the subscription due to print and ink costs - thus requests to send non urgent material via post rather than email/web access.

> The elimination of editors is what we've got on the Internet today,

I disagree with this proposition - many websites (especially organisational) are in effect edited. Also - online referred journals are out there. I think that the net is coming to resemble the real world - some gems, much junk, some porn - etc. Of course this just takes us back to the real non networked issue of selection - refereed (by whom), ephemera, access to alternative views....

> and that has given many of us new respect for the work of editors
> and publishers.

For me it is not a question of _respect_ but of a reanalysis of their true function as administrators. In non networked publishing, many functions traditionally associated with publishers are now contracted out with the publisher just maintaining the coordinating role.  

> It's hard to imagine that we will have a "mature" online intellectual
> life without that editorial function, which once again means that
> there will be someone/something between authors and their audience

Not necessarily. I can easily imagine a two tier access model. Access without editors - for those with time, inclination, experience, knowledge to not only discover what there is on the net but also prepared to judge its value for themselves. Access via editorial or publisher control - ie. refereed, well publicised, journals or databases.

> and there will be a cost. There will also be costs related to
> marketing, as products vie for customers. It remains to be seen how
> much these products will sell for.

I agree that this is the interesting point. I can forsee that the true cost of the refereeing & publicising will determine the cost - with perhaps the same material available outside such processes available for zero.

          Mark Perkins, RRMG Librarian
          ODI Library, Regents College

Inner Circle, Regents Park, London NW14NS. UK TEL: +44 (0)171-487-7611 FAX: +44 (0)171-487-7590           EMAIL: library[_at_]odi.org.uk Received on Tue Apr 16 1996 - 13:37:11 GMT