From: Duncan Simpson
To: ask_tim@oreilly.com
Subject: What is your position on journals?
Tim,
Academic journals rarely pay their authors of referees anything and demand copyright of what they print. They usually have hefty subscription fees.
Some journals seek to limit redistribution by the original authors too. I am not sure whether O'Rielly is involved in this business. Is it compatible with your position?
I agree that books have costs associated with them and am willing to pay for them (bespite the appeal of getting something free ato my overdraft).
This hurts me because an interlibrary loan takes about a week minimum, just assuming your signature is enough (mine is at the moment...)
Duncan
Duncan,
No, we're not in the journals business. From what I know, though, this business is changing radically, with many journals becoming online-only. But you have to have some sympathy for companies whose business model is shifting out from under them. Academic journals have made a major contribution to our intellectual culture; just because technology has made them obsolete in some ways and that they aren't all changing fast enough, you shouldn't portray them as somehow trying to get away with something.
We're all learning our way in the new world we've unleashed on ourselves.
--Tim
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