[Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down academic journals

[Heidelberg, Chris]

Lisa:

I work in the media, and if not most (meaning more than 51% of the major
academic publishers) are majority owned by the media conglomerates that
we all know well. These entitities have begun bundling to raise prices.
If you are looking for a sustainable model (which implies the long
haul), you are encountering the same dilemma that the publishers and
studios are having in the entertainment business: new technologies have
taken away many of the traditional profits and large profit margins. I
think audio and video based versions of publications that are coupled
with a print and/or book reader could become very popular based on how
well the iPod and the Kindle from Amazon is selling. Microsoft and Sony
will be beefing up the Zune, the e Reader from Sony and the watchman. I
also am certain that innovative researchers will find what I have found
in my research on gaming and simulation: people love interactive
instructional devices. I witnessed this first hand at ADL - Advanced
Distributed Learning a defense-based learning organization with Pentagon
connections. People will pay if the fun factor, ease of use and
functionality/utility are present according to the technology adoption
model (Davis, 1989).Serious gaming (Gee, 2004, 2005) is making major
inroads and publishing is becoming one them. 

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of McLaughlin, Lisa
M. Dr.
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 4:58 PM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down
academic journals

I'm curious to know: 1) if/how this example presents a sustainable
model;  2) if/how it may be replicable in other fields and contexts
involving academic publication and distribution.

I've got no hidden agenda is asking these questions (as in offering a
point of disagreement). I'm interested because of my current involvement
in a project centering on finding/creating sustainable (shall I say
"value-added"?) models for production and distribution of independent
media.

Regards,

Lisa

On 2/8/08 4:44 PM, "Gilles Frydman" <gfrydman at acor.org> wrote:

There is an amazing precedent in the field of mathematics publishing,
demonstrating that if you build it, they will come!  On their own.

Look at the story of Grigori Perelman, who received the Fields Medal
(the highest prize in mathematics) for solving the Poincare Conjecture.
He published his solution to this 100 years old problem in
3 articles over an 8-months period in 2002-2003. He specifically
published the 3 articles  ONLY on arXiv, the open-access repository of
e-prints in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology
and Statistics. (for background information on arXiv.org:
http://people.ccmr.cornell.edu/~ginsparg/blurb/)

His experience has transformed completely how mathematicians think about
peer-reviewed publications, creating a big push for open-access.

--
Gilles Frydman
ACOR.org


On Feb 8, 2008, at 4:23 PM, Christian Nelson wrote:

> That's A question, not the only one. As I noted before, if you build 
> it, they will not come. Not unless you lure the big names away from 
> the current journals, and that isn't going to happen on its own.
>
> On Feb 8, 2008, at 4:13 PM, Jimmy Wales wrote:
>
>> The question is:  "Can we find sustainable models for the publication

>> and distribution of academic content that are also consistent with 
>> the ideals of free distribution and open access."
>>
>> I think the answer is not just yes, but a resounding yes.
>>
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