Open access via publishing cooperatives: perfect for the small not for profit

[Heather Morrison <heatherm@eln.bc.ca>]

Raym Crow's work on publishing cooperatives for open access is no 
threat to the small not for profit, it is an opportunity.

As Raym points out, citing Tenopir and King's work of 2004, 40% 
of journals are still published in print only.  For these 
journals, moving to online and open access at the same time makes 
a lot of sense, and is much easier than one might suppose.

It is easier to do both at once, because with open access there 
is no need to set up authentication and subscription tracking 
mechanisms, and troubleshooting needed to deal with failure of 
authentication systems.

Setting up an electronic open access journal is not necessarily 
as expensive as one might think.  Software hosting and technical 
support costs can be as little as $750 Canadian per year - or 
free, if one has the expertise to work with an open source 
system.  For journals that have long run with basically volunteer 
labor and in-kind support, this may be the only cost.

To me, it makes a very great deal of sense for libraries to help 
out with setting up such cooperatives.  Those involved in not for 
profit publishing are often our faculty members.  The cost of 
hosting and technical support for one journal can be less than 
the cost of just one subscription; and the support of one library 
covers the whole world.

This is not just a good thing to do; it is a smart thing to do 
for one's institution, as well.  The added impact from going open 
access for our faculty, reflects well on our own university, too.

No wonder so many libraries are getting involved in innovative 
publishing.  Charles Bailey is writing a very informative series 
on Digital Library / University Presses on Digital Koans, at: 
http://www.escholarlypub.com/digitalkoans/

For more of my thoughts on this topic, please see:
Publishing Cooperatives:  Another Seminal Work by Raym Crow, at:
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com/2006/09/publishing-cooperatives-
another.html

Heather Morrison
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com