[753] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Print Editions of Electronic Information
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Thu Jul 16 13:11:42 1992
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1992 12:07:25 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
3 Messages, 93 Lines
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From: Jim Harrington <EXTXAABE@UCF1VM>
Subject: Re: What's Going on Here?, Part I
I also can understand wanting to be paid for one's effort. Maybe what
we need is something like shareware (a 'sharebook'?). The material
could be distributed freely with the understanding that if the user
feels the material is worthwhile, then a small fee will be paid to
the author. Or possibly a condensed version could be free with the
full version available for a fee.
Just thinking online.
Jim Harrington
Valencia Community College
Orlando, FL
*-----
From: "ALBERT TABAH CXI6@MUSICA" <CXI6@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA>
Subject: What's Going on Here?
I see no reason why David Tyckoson should be surprised at all.
Let me explain:
1. Those who follow scholarly communication in the sciences will
know that much of the technical communication among physicists,
mathematicians and engineers takes place at the technical report
level. These are working documents which, if the work is
successful, find their way into the journal literature. Once a
work is published in a journal, it's old hat. The information
therein has already been communicated and digested. Ideas and
results can never wait for months to make it across brains and
labs. The journal article thus fulfils no more than an archival
function. It's there to confer credit and precedence, not much
more. The same can be said about communicating at a conference
versus reading the proceedings months later. Nowadays, many
technical reports are appearing in electronic format (some of
them exclusively so). However, their authors still turn them
into journal articles once the ideas have crystallized and are
publishable.
I think it's very similar here with PACS Review. The print
format now confers it a tangible and archival value that the
electronic format could never have. Libraries can acquire it,
catalogue it and make it available. In electronic format it is
invisible and unknown to the average library user, unless someone
downloaded, printed and collected every article when it first
appeared.
Even discussions taking place on PACS-L sooner or later get
repackaged, embellished, formalized and make their way into
the print literature.
2. The publication of "Zen" in print is entirely the author's
prerogative. We are fortunate that at least we got the first
edition free of charge in electronic format.
3. David is right about the network soon belonging to those who
can pay. Charles Brownstein, Deputy Director for Computing and
Communications at the National Science Foundation (NSF) alluded
to this at the 1991 ASIS annual conference in Toronto. In his
keynote address he told the audience that toward the middle
of the 1990s the intention was to turn some of the major networks
over to the private sector. I suspect once that happens, the
increased costs to the universities will finally end up being
passed on to the user.
I don't think there is any need for pessimism here. Electronic
tools are all too new and need more than just a few years to
supplant anything old - especially in print format. I doubt
July 10, 1992 will mean much to anyone - at least in electronic
terms.
*-----
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: What's Going on Here?
Peter Graham states how much Rutgers spends on networks. . .I don't see
the connections between the premise that something costs a lot and the
conclusion that this means something different than that we should use
it more or less because it costs a lot or because it is free (if it were).
The fact is that the net connections is there. . .and should be used. . .
is it not? What am I missing in this exchange?
Should we use the libraries more or less because they are/are not free?
Thank you for your interest,
Michael S. Hart, Professor of Electronic Text
Executive Director of Project Gutenberg Etext
Illinois Benedictine College, Lisle, IL 60532
No official connection to U of Illinois--UIUC
