RE: The silver lining

["Mary Summerfield" <msummerfield@press.uchicago.edu>]

Fortunately some of the university presses have organizations and 
systems (Web-based peer review and online hosting platforms that 
are equal to those used by major commercial publishers) that give 
them the capacity to take on publication of more journals.  In 
fact, we are eager to do so in the years ahead.

Mary Summerfield
Director, Business Development and Planning
University of Chicago Press
Chicago, IL  60637
Telephone: 773-702-2383
Fax: 773-702-2704

-----Original Message-----
[mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Heather Morrison
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:01 AM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: The silver lining

Sandy Thatcher expressed very well the fear that self-archiving 
could lead to a "tipping point" which could cause massive 
disruption to the scholarly publishing system.  Sandy suggests 
that, even without cancellations, it is possible that highly 
profitable publishers could still decide to leave the business. 
If even a few of the large players were to leave the system, 
Sandy argues, journals would have no where to go, as university 
presses such as Penn State do not have the resources to pick up 
all these journals.

The silver lining in this scenario:  if even a few of the large, 
highly profitable publishers were to suddenly decide to go into 
another business - then libraries and universities would have 
plenty of cash left over from subscription budgets they could no 
longer spend , and this cash would then be available to help 
scholars transition their journals, some through newly resourced 
university presses.

It is always possible, of course, that the few very highly 
profitable publishers, continuing to enjoy high profits, would 
not exodus the scholarly publishing system en masse after all.

For more detail, please see my blogpost, Transitioning to Open
Access:  Beyond Fear of Change, at: http://tinyurl.com/ygyspt

Sandy Thatcher's original post to Liblicense:
http://tinyurl.com/ynddnr